€ 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 


THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 
OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 
PRESENTED  BY 
RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 


^^'. 


■>  •  ..o'-i  i<^'":,.^>h'i     .n  ;'*••  ^^'"/■• 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/feetofclaynovelOOmart 


THE  FEET  OF  CLAY: 


A  NOVEL. 


BY 

ELLE  N    MARTI  N 


"  Tell  me  the  dream  and  I  shall  know  that  you  can  show  me  the  interpreta- 
tion thereof.  Thou,  O  King,  sawest  and  behold  a  great  image.  This  image 
whose  brightness  was  excellent  stood  before  thee  :  and  the  form  thereof  was 
terrible.  This  image's  head  was  of  fine  gold,  his  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  his 
belly  and  his  thighs  of  brass,  his  legs  of  iron,  and  his  Jett  part  of  iron  and 
part  of  clay." 


NEW  YORK: 

BROWN    &    DERBY, 

(21   PARK   PLACE.) 

1882. 


Copyright,  1881, 

By    Bit  own    &   DERBY. 

All  rights  reserved. 


SPBINOFIEI.D    PRINTtN'O  CO., 

ELECrKOlYl'KK*.  IMU5TER9   AND  BINDEB9, 

SPRINOFIELD.   MASS. 


TO 

EEY.  A.  A.  LIPSCOMB,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

EX-CHANCELLOR  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  GEORGIA, 
PROFESSOR  EMERITUS  OF  VANDERBILT  UNIVERSITY, 

AS 

A  TOKEN  OF  GRATITUDE 

For  his  past  kindness ;  and  of  appreciation  of  his  culture ;  his  intellectual 
greatness  ;  and  his  goodness, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


603128 


CHAPTER  I. 

"  With  downward  force 
That  drove  the  sand  aloiij;,  he  took  his  way, 
And  roll'd  his  yellow  billows  to  the  sea. 
The  birds  that  haunt  the  borders  of  his  flood 
To  tuneful  songs  their  narrow  throats  applied. 
And  liaughty  souls,  that,  moved  with  mutual  hate 
In  ti'^htiii'^  Jields,  pursued  and  found  their  late." 

Virgil:  JEseid. 

"  You  know,  I  suppose,  that  this  hill  took  its  name, 
Fort  Hill,  years  ago  from  the  Spanish  fort,  ruins  of 
Avhich  can  still  be  seen,  and  not  from  the  Confederate 
fortifications,"  said  Aliena  Graeme  to  Major  Baron,  as 
on  horseback  they  were  ascending  the  steep  road  to  the 
top  of  Fort  Hill,  one  of  the  highest  of  the  Walnut  Hill 
range,  upon  which  Vicksbijrg  is  situated. 

"No,  I  'was  not  aware  of  it,  but  it  seems  a  pity  that 
those  old  Spanish  cavaliers  should  have  been  dispos- 
sessed by  a  more  prosaic  race,"  said  Major  Baron. 

"  Don't  you  think  it  may  be  the  lapse  of  time  that 
makes  them  seem  more  poetic  than  the  present  posses- 
sors ?  In  a  hundred  years  or  so  no  doubt  epics  will  be 
written  about  Confederate  heroes,  and  some  Homer  may 
tune  a  lyre  to  this  fearful  fratricidal  war." 

"  Time  is  a  wonderful  sorcerer,  and  no  doubt  throws 
a  glamour  over  the  past.  There  is  no  knowing  what  it 
may  do  or  who  may  figure  in  romance  or  liistory.  But 
to  tell  the  truth,  I  regard  the  present  too  highly  to 
worry  myself  about  the  future.  I  care  little  to  figure  in 
song  or  story.  Give  me  the  warm  smile  of  beauty  and 
the  caress  of  the  present  and  what  do  I  care  for  the 
cold  admiration  of  the  unborn  millions  of  ao^es  to 
come  : 

"  There  is  a  higher  motive  then  than  ambition,  which 
leads  you  to  peril  your  life  in  defense  of  your  country," 
said  Aliena,  earnestly,  looking  into  Major  Baron's  face. 


6  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  I  lay  claim  to  no  higher  motive.  I  don't  profess, 
however,  to  be  without  ambition,  but  it  is  not  the  dead 
cold  desire  for  fame  which  is  usually  meant  by  that 
term.  How  many  men  would,  do  you  suppose,  suffer 
the  privations  of  this  war,  or  take  their  chances  of 
death  for  fame  merely?  Not  man}',  I  assure  you.  It 
is  the  coveted  smile  of  beauty  or  fear  of  her  frown 
that  leads  men  on  to  the  cannon's  mouth.  Give  me  my* 
fame  and  reward  now.  Vive  le  present^  that  is  my 
motto." 

"  There  is,  it  seems  to  me,  a  want  of  breadth  in  that 
motto,"  said  Aliena  with  a  vague  feeling  of  annoj-ance. 

"  It  is  my  motto  nevertheless.  I  desire  nothing  better 
than  the  present.  If  I  could  induce  some  lovely  woman 
to  make  a  hero  of  me,  if  only  in  imagination,  I  could 
be  generous  enough  to  sign  a  quit-claim,  an  everlasting 
deed  to  the  cold  admiration  and  dead  hero  worship  of  all 
the  sirens  of  futurity.  Do  3'ou  think  that  such  an  ambi- 
tion requires  too  great  a  strain  upon  the  imagination  ?  " 

If  manly  beauty  could  have  given  a  right  to  hero 
worship.  Major  Baron  might  well  have  laid  claim  to  it 
as  he  sat  his  horse  with  that  grace  which  constant 
habit  alone  can  give,  his  closely  fitting  gray  uniform 
buttoned  to  the  throat  over  his  deep  chest,  his  broad 
straiglit  shoulders  and  tall  form  combining  manly 
strength  and  grace,  while  his  clearh'  defined  features, 
close  cut  hair,  and  carefully  trained  mustache  added 
to  his  soldierly  appearance.  And  Aliena  looking  at 
him  earnestly  said  :  "  The  commonest  soldier  in  tattered 
uniform,  with  bare  feet,  may  be  a  hero  in  enduring  for 
the  right." 

''  Your  imagination  is  more  vivid  than  mine  then. 
To  tell  the  truth,  if  I  had  the  making  of  heroes  of  the 
flesh  and  blood  humanity  with  which  I  am  thrown  in 
daily  contact  there  would  be  very  few  heroes,  I  assure 
you." 

"  Hero  worship  may  be  inherent  then  in  woman,  and 
I  would  be  sorry  to  give  it  up.     It  certainly  affords  me 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  7 

pleasure  if  my  heroes  should  be  but  the  coinage  of  my 
own  imagination." 

"  It  has  been  asserted  that  Avoman  requires  an  embodi- 
ment for  an  abstract  idea,  and  it  may  be  that  this 
innate  tendency  to  hero  worship  gets  her  the  credit  of 
being  more  religious  than  man.  Her  heroes  may  be  her 
stepping-stones  from  nature  to  nature's  God.  So  after 
all  it  may  be  well  to  let  you  alone  and  not  try  to  open 
your  eyes,  as  did  Puck  the  poor  Titania's,  if  you 
choose  to  say, 

'  Come  sit  thee  down  upon  this  flowery  bed 
While  I  fliy  amiable  cheeks  do  coy, 
And  stick  musk  roses  iu  thy  sleek,  smooth  head, 
And  kiss  thy  fair,  large  ears,  my  gentle  joy,'  " 

"  You  are  laughing  at  me  now,  but  according  to  your 
own  authority  we  should  have  no  heroes  if  Ave  waited  to 
find  them  without  Aveaknesses.  For  Shakspeare  says 
that  even  Caesar,  stemming  the  Tiber,  cried,  '  Help  me 
Cassius  or  I  sink,'  and 

'  He  that  bade  the  Romans 
Mark  him  and  write  his  speeches  in  their  book 
Alas !  he  cried,  give  me  some  drink,  Titinius, 
As  a  sick  girl.' " 

"  Don't  imagine  I  am  trjdng  to  convert  3'ou  from 
your  heathendom.  There  is  something  far  too  fasci- 
nating in  the  possibility  of  being  crowned  a  hero  by 
some  fair  one  myself,  of  being  placed  upon  a  pedestal, 
exliilarated  by  libations,  and  sweetly  smothered  in 
incense.  I  should  make  a  most  villainous  missionaiy 
under  these  circumstances." 

Aliena  lapsed  into  silence  for  some  reason  as  they 
rode  on,  and  coming  to  the  summit  of  Fort  Hill  they 
checked  their  horses  and  turning  took  a  survey  of  the 
scene  spread  out  before  them. 

Here  the  Mississippi  river,  sweeping  around  the  penin- 
sula, was  for  twenty  miles  in  view.     Beyond  the  bend 


8  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

the  gunboats  of  tlic  enemy  lay  in  a  great  black,  sinuous 
line,  like  some  monstrous  Python,  waiting  to  devour 
its  prey  ;  while  the  masses  of  soldiers  camping  beside 
it  seemed  guarding  the  monster.  Confederate  earth 
works  bristling  with  cannon  and  mortar  faced  the  enemy 
and  commanded  the  river,  and  for  miles  up  and  down 
the  river-side  the  tents  of  Confederate  soldiers  dotted 
hillside  and  valley. 

The  town  scattered  picturesquely^  over  the  hills  was 
beautiful  with  the  delicate  hues  of  the  many-tinted 
spring  foliage,  of  flowering,  fruit,  and  forest  trees  ;  while 
back  from  the  river  the  white  coin m us  rose  above  the 
evergreens  of  the  cemetery.  Between  Fort  Hill  and 
the  river  the  swamp  was  dismal  with  cane-brake,  and 
with  cypress  of  centuries'  growth,  from  whose  branches 
pcnded  waving  masses  of  long,  gray,  Spanish  moss, 
making  them  impersonations  of  Ossian's  heroes  grown 
hoary  with  years  :  "  Fergus  with  the  feet  of  wind — Star- 
mus,  foe  of  strangers — Fillan,  mist  of  the  hill — as  they 
bent  to  battle,  their  hair  upon  the  wind." 

As  they  gazed  at  the  scene  before  them  the  clouds 
which  had  obscured  the  sun  suddenly  rolled  away,  and 
the  pale  shadows  as  though  affrighted  took  their  flight 
toward  the  dismal  swamp  beyond ;  the  whole  heavens 
flinging  out  triumphantly  their  flaming  banners  of 
purple  and  gold,  tinging  hillside,  valley  and  river. 

"  What  a  gorgeous  scene  !  "  exclaimed  Major  Baron. 

Aliena  gazing  in  wrapt  delight  at  the  view  before  her 
made  no  response,  and  Major  Baron  continued,  ''  I 
don't  think  I  ever  saw  a  more  beautiful  sunset  even 
U2)on  the  Mediterranean." 

''  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that.  I  feared  that  love 
of  home  had  biased  my  judgment.  But  a  sunset  across 
the  Mississippi  has  a  charm  for  me  not  to  be  found  in 
one  at  sea.  There  is  a  sort  of  weariness  to  the  imagina- 
tion, of  unrest  in  a  sunset  across  a  continuous,  unbroken 
expanse  of  water,  as  of  a  bird  that  wings  its  flight  it 
knows  not  whither." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  9 

Major  Baron's  eyes  were  resting  upon  Aliena's  grace- 
ful form  rather  than  upon  the  scene  as  she  sat  gazing 
with  that  wrapt,  far  away,  dreamy  absorption  at  the 
lovely  view  before  them  ;  her  dark,  half-veiled,  fathom- 
less eyes  glowing  with  a  sort  of  lambent  flame  which 
an  intense  sense  of  the  beautiful  made  sometimes  play 
under  the  long  dark  lashes ;  the  sunlight  bringing  out 
the  glory  of  her  masses  of  golden  brown  hair,  and  giving 
a  faint  glow  to  the  almost  marble  whiteness  of  her  face. 

"But  the  wings  of  your  imagination  may  be  stronger 
than  mine,"  she  continued,  after  a  time  glancing  up  at 
him,  as  though  awakening  from  a  dream. 

"  I  am  quite  sure  my  wings  would  want  to  find  rest 
where  yours  did,"  said  Major  Baron,  his  eyes  still  fixed 
upon  her.  Something  in  the  tone  and  look  rather  than 
in  the  words  made  Aliena's  color  deepen  as  she  caught 
his  eye,  and  she  proposed  to  resume  their  ride  homeward. 

Major  Baron  leaving  Aliena  at  Castle  Hill,  as  her 
home  had  been  called,  from  its  turreted  construction 
and  its  elevated  position,  rode  slowly  down  the  winding 
graveled  carriage  drive,  under  over-arching  trees  to  the 
foot  of  the  hill.  As  he  emerged  through  the  great 
gateway  into  the  road  he  exclaimed,  "  Confound  those 
stupid  fellows  at  camp.  How  can  I  go  back  to  them 
after  the  poetry  of  this  evening?"  and  taking  a  cigar 
from  a  beautifully  chased  gold  case  he  lighted  it,  and 
giving  reins  to  his  horse,  galloped  down  the  lower  river 
road,  the  beauty  of  which,  with  its  open,  moon-light 
water  views,  its  lovely  vistas,  and  its  soft  perfumed  air, 
was  not  likely  to  bring  him  to  a  more  matter-of-fact 
state  of  jnind. 

Colonel  Sturdyvant  called  to  him  as  he  passed  one 
of  the  fortifications.  "  Major,  what  is  the  matter  ?  Are 
the  Yankees  about  to  storm  our  lines  that  you  are  in 
such  a  devil  of  a  hurry  ?  " 

''  I  don't  care  anything  about  the  Yankees,"  Major 
Baron  replied  recklessly.  "  I  only  know  that  the  out- 
works of  the  citadel  are  already    carried,  and  all   the 


10  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

fortifications  in  the  world  can't  keep  the  enemy  out ;  and 
what  is  more  I  don't  care." 

With  which  vague  metaphorical  rejoinder  he  rode 
rapidly  on,  leaving  the  bewildered  officer  to  make  the 
most  of  his  information  regardless  of  the  traitorous 
impression  his  words  might  create. 


CHAPTER  11. 

"  Her  mother  is  the  lady  of  the  house, 
And  a  good  lady,  and  a  wise,  and  virtuous ; 
I  nursed  her  daughter  that  you  talked  withal :  " 

Shakspeare  :  RoaiEO  and  Juliet. 

"  Here  's  a  shawl  for  mistiss,  honey,  it  might  get  cool 
and  if  it  does  don't  forget  to  put  it  on  her.  Young 
folks  don't  always  think  of  things,  not  but  that  you  are 
always  a  thinking  of  mistiss  too.  But,  mistiss,  you 
know,  )^ou  can't  stand  adzactly  what  you  could  onct," 
said  Mauma,  as  Aliena  always  called  her  black  nurse, 
who  had  followed  ]\Irs.  Graeme  and  her  daughter  to  the 
carriage  standing  before  the  Castle  door. 

'*  Thank  you,  Mauma.  I  shall  not  forget  it,"  said 
Aliena  as  she  seated  herself  beside  her  mother,  and  the 
restive  horses  moved  off.  Mauma  stood  watching  the 
carriage  until  it  disappeared  down  the  hillside,  the  sun- 
light bringing  out  the  brilliant  colors  of  her  artistically 
arranged  head-handkerchief,  which  surmounted  her 
black  face,  her  spreading  features,  and  ample  person. 

She  heaved  a  sigh  as  she  turned  to  re-enter  "the  house 
saying,  "  Just  to  think  of  the  times  and  times  I  have 
seen  marster  help  mistiss  into  that  carridge,  since  she 
was  n't  no  older  than  my  chile  a  sittin  there  by  her 
side — and  him  as  proud  of  her  as  airy  lord  in  the  land," 
and  shaking  her  head  mournfully  she  continued  as  she 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  11 

entered  the  door,  *'  But  these  times  ain't  what  they 
used  to  be.  Ah  !  if  them  good  old  times  could  only 
come  back  onct  more,  and  I  could  see  marster  a  steppin' 
in  this  door — Laws  a  marcy  !  Is  tliat  you.  Dot  ? " 
exclaimed  Mauma,  throwing  up  her  arms  with  a  nervous 
start.  "  What  on  earth  did  you  go  and  startle  a  body 
that  way  for  ?  "  she  continued,  addressing  the  black  and 
tan  terrier  that  had  jumped  fawningly  upon  her  as  she 
entered  the  hall. 

Dot  wagging  his  tail  apologetically,  Mauma  continued, 
"  You  miss  marster  too,  do  you,  Dot  ?  Well,  come  along 
and  I  '11  give  you  something  to  eat.  Nobody  shan't  say 
I  've  neglected  marster's  pet  if  I  do  have  to  whip  you 
off  the  parlor  sofas  sometimes,  though  I  darsent  to  *tell 
mistiss,  for  she  'd  let  you  stay  there  all  day  long  if  you 
wanted  to,  because  marster  loved  you.  And  Miss 
Aliena !  Lord  !  Lord  !  just  to  think  of  the  times  she  'd 
a  had  if  marster  had  n't  been  took  ?  " 

Mauma  ceased  talking  at  length,  perhaps  from  lack 
of  breath,  as  she  ascended  the  winding  stairway,  lighted 
from  above  by  the  richly  stained  glass  of  the  rotunda. 
And  moving  on  she  entered  Mrs.  Graeme's  great  pur- 
ple-tinted room  ;  which  had  a  gloomy  look  in  the  dim 
light,  with  its  dark,  carved,  old-fashioned  furniture  and 
its  funereal,  great,  high  post,  square-testered  bedstead 
draped  like  the  windows  with  purple  damask  and  lace. 

Dot  entertained  himself  while  Mauma  readjusted  the 
room  by  making  little  runs  at  his  own  reflection  in  the 
cheval  mirror,  barking  at  intervals  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  supposed  canine  intruder,  or  in  making 
mystified  reconnoissances  in  the  rear  of  the  glass^ 
Mauma  taking  an  artistic  survey  to  assure  herself  that 
everything  was  as  it  should  be,  gladly  left  the  roon) 
and  the  still,  lonely  house. 

Descending  by  a  back  flight  of  steps  she  proceeded 
to  the  pantry  to  secure  the  promised  morceau  for  Dot. 
Here,  opening  the  door  of  the  wire  safe,  she  was  pro- 
ceeding to  help  herself  to  some  cold  meat  when  Susan, 


12  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

the  black  cook,  a  tall,  thin  woman  of  about  forty, 
hearing  footsteps  in  the  pantry,  came  to  see  who  was 
infringing  upon  her  prerogatives. 

Perceiving  what  she  considered  an  unwarrantable 
encroachment,  Susan  exclaimed  rather  haughtily,  "  Mal- 
viny  ?  Malviny  ?  I  say,  what  are  you  doin'  in  that  there 
safe  ?  " 

Mauma  scorning  to  reply  went  on  helping  herself  in 
silence  to  the  meat,  placing  it  upon  a  tin  plate  for  Dot. 

Susan,  putting  her  arms  akimbo  and  elevating  her 
voice  to  a  more  emphatic  pitch  reiterated,  "Malviny,  I 
say,  what  are  you  doin'  in  that  there  safe  ?  Do  you 
think,"  she  continued,  receiving  no  reply,  "  that  I  'me 
gwine  to  let  marster's  dog  starve  to  death — and  he  done 
gone  where  none  of  us  can't  go,  lessen  we  walk  the 
strait  and  narrer  path  to  the  shinin'  shores  of  the  New 
Jerusalim.  I  've  done  give  that  dog  more  'n  seventeen 
dogs  ought  to  eat,  this  blessed  day,"  and  wiping  her 
face  with  the  corner  of  her  ample  checked  apron,  after 
this  prolonged  burst  of  eloquence,  she  subsided  for  the 
time,  possibly  from  want  of  fuel  in  a  reply. 

Mauma,  having  continued  to  help  herself  in  silence 
until  satisfied,  now  walked  calmly  out  on  the  gallery  in 
front  of  the  kitcheji,  folloAved  by  Dot  jumping  at  the 
plate  in  efforts  to  help  himself. 

"Is  that  all  the  manners  you've  got?"  said  Mauma 
addressing  Dot. 

Susan,  glad  of  an  excuse  to  commence  again  started 
with  renewed  vigor.  "  I'll  thank  you  ma'am  I  've  got 
as  much  manners  as  some  other  folks  for  all  they  take 
on  so  many  white  folk's  airs.  I  don't  go  into  other 
folkses  things  a  meddlin'  with  what  don't  consarn  me 
like  some  people  that  I  know.  And  the}'  need  n't  come 
a  foolin'  around  me  neither.  I  don't  keer  who  they  are 
nor  what  sort  uv  airs  they  put  on.  I  think  myself  as 
good  as  them  any  day,  and  I  '11  make  them  think  so  too 
ef  they  go  to  puttin'  on  airs  around  me." 

Mauma,  as  though  unconscious  of  Susan's  existence. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  13 

quietly  placed  the  plate  upon  the  ground,  and  returned 
to  the  pantry  for  a  chair,  which  she  placed  upon  the 
kitchen  gallery.  Here  she  seated  herself  to  see  that 
Dot  was  undisturbed  in  his  repast ;  which,  truth  to 
say,  he  seemed  to  relish  wonderfully  considering  that 
he  had  already  had  "  more'n  seventeen  dogs  ought  to 
eat." 

Mauma,  who  apparently  had  been  as  tranquil  under 
Susan's  tirade  as  though  it  had  been  addressed  to  some 
imaginary  being,  at  length  unbent  sufficiently  to  reply, 
as  Susan  apj^eared  once  more  upon  the  gallery.  "  Look 
here,  Susan,  I  don't  .want  no  foolishness  from  you — you 
know  when  I'm  goin'  to  do  a  thing  I'm  goin'  to  do  it — 
and  I'm  goin'  to  feed  that  dog  whenever  I  get  ready, 
and  there  ain't  no  use  of  you  a  talkin'  to  me.  If  it 
was  n't  that  you  and  me  was  raised  most  like  sisters, 
and  your  mother  and  mine  was  the  same  before  us, 
I  would  n't  have  took  the  sass  from  you  that  I  have." 

At  this  calm  and  philosophic  speech,  Susan  thought 
it  best  to  succumb,  and  assuming  a  less  belligerent 
attitude,  she  dropped  her  arms  to  her  sides  and  replied 
in  a  milder  tone.  "  Well,  sister  Viny,"  a  spiritual  rela- 
tionship which  Susan  occasionally  assumed  when  she 
wished  to  be  especially  gracious,  ''  you  know  we  all  has 
our  ups  and  downs,  and  I  didn't  like  your  'pearin'  to 
think  that  I  deglected  marster's  dog."  And  tempted  to 
amiability  by  the  opportunity  for  a  social  chat  in  the 
sunshine,  she  seated  herself  upon  the  step  near  Mauma 
for  that  purpose — leaning  forward,  resting  her  elbow  on 
her  knee,  her  chin  supported  in  her  hand. 

Dot,  having  finished  his  refreshment,  ran  around  to 
the  front  of  the  house,  where  nosing  up  and  down  the 
graveled  carriage  drive,  he  seemingly  arrived  at  the  con- 
clusion that  he  might  as  well  console  himself  for  the 
time  by  a  play  with  Hiigi,  a  beautiful  greyhound,  who 
was  lying  on  the  smooth,  green  sward. 

Hugi,  apparently  scorning  any  such  undignified  pro- 
cedure, lay  pretending  to  dose  in  quiet  gravity,  opening 


14  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

an  eye  now  and  then  to  make  a  reconnoissance ;  while 
Dot  impudently  disturbed  liis  pretended  slumbers  by 
rushing  at  him  with  a  quick  bark,  retreating  and  going 
over  the  same  process  again  and  again  in  hope  of  a 
response. 

Tired  at  length  of  failure,  Dot  varied  his  elforts  by 
rolling  and  tumbling  over  Hugi's  head,  and  snipping 
at  his  ears,  until  utterly  despairing  of  success  in 
arousing  him  to  social  companionship  he  ran  off  upon 
another  reconnoissance,  nosing  from  side  to  side  of 
the  carriage  drive  down  to  the  gate  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill. 

The  little  misunderstanding  having  come  to  an 
amicable  ending  between  Mauma  and  Susan,  they  were 
in  the  meanwhile  indulging  in  a  social  chat.  ''It  'pears 
like  to  me,  Susan,"  said  Mauma,  ''  that  everything  is 
turned  topsy  turvy  these  times.  They  'low  that  this 
war  is  goin'  to  do  big  things  for  us  black  folks,  and  the 
Lord  knows  I  hope  it  will,  for  we  ain't  seen  nothin'  but 
trials  and  tribberlations  sence  it  begun.  I'd  like  pow- 
erful well  to  see  the  good  old  times  onct  more  that  we 
used  to  have.  Since  marster  was  took  it  'pears  like 
to  me  that  everything  is  goin'  wrong.  Mistiss  is  grievin' 
herself  to  death — and  my  poor  child  !  Lord  !  Lord  !  " 
and  Mauma  shook  her  head  and  heaved  a  sigh  as  though 
words  failed  her  at  this  thought.  "And  just  to  think  of 
the  rejoicin'  and  goins  on  when  she  was  born  ?  And 
do  you  believe  it  mistiss  forgot  when  her  child's  last 
birthday  come?  And  she's  goin'  on  now  nigh  on  to 
nineteen  her  next  birthday,  that'll  be  about  the  fourth 
of  July,  and  I  do  believe  mistiss  thinks  she  ain't  nothin' 
but  a  chile  yet,  if  she  thinks  about  it  at  all ;  or  about 
anything  else  but  grievin'  after  marster.  Susan,  did  n't 
you  never  take  notice  how  much  Miss  Aliena's  like 
marster's  great  aunt's  picture  in  the  dinin'  room  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sister  Viny,  I  has.  I  have  seen  jest  that 
same  pitiful  look  in  her  eyes  sometimes  that  thar  is  in 
that  picture,  'specially  sence  marster's  dead." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  15 

"  You  may  say  that,  Susan,  you  may  say  that,  that 
picture  has  a  pitiful  look,  about  the  pitifullest  look  I 
ever  seen,  and  it  wan't  without  no  cause  neither.  I've 
heard  my  mother,  that  you  know  belonged  to  marster's 
grandfather  in  old  Virginny,  tell,  time  and  time  again, 
about  marster's  folks.  They  was  all  high  quality  people, 
way  back  to  when  they  come  from  the  old  country,  some 
lord  or  earl  I  believe  it  was  that  come  to  this  country 
from  England.  You  know  old  marster  never  owned 
your  mother  until  just  before  he  come  out  here  from  old 
Virginny,"  interposed  Mauma,  with  an  effort  not  to 
seem  patronizing,  continuing ; 

''  Poor  Miss  Emilia  !  that  was  her  name,  that  you  see 
painted  in  that  i)icture — in  her  white  satin  weddin'  dress, 
and  fine  lace,  and  pearls,  and  most  no  waist  at  all. 
My  mother  's  told  me  time  and  time  again,  how,  when 
Miss  Emilia  married  the  President's  brother,  they 
turned  the  little  pot  into  the  big  one,  and  such  a  bakin' 
of  cakes  and  a  roastin'  of  turkies,  and  a  cookin'  of 
good  things  never  was  seen.  And  how  all  the  quality 
came  to  the  weddin'  drivin'  up  in  their  coaches^  that's 
what  they  used  to  call  carridges  them  times,  and  they 
never  thought  of  drivin'  less  than  four  horses.  And  the 
ladies  steppin'  out  dressed  in  silks,  and  satins,  and  vel- 
vets that  could  most  stand  alone,  and  shinin'  in  dimuns. 
How  Mr.  Jefferson  was  there,  he  was  marster's  grand- 
mother's sister's  son.  He  was  walkin'  round  among 
the  big  quality  folks  lookin'  grander  than  the  President 
hisself,  that  was  there,  with  his  queue,  and  his  dimun 
knee  buckles,  and  his  knee-breeches,  and  silk  stockings, 
and  diman  shoe-buckles.  All  the  quality  gentlemen 
dressed  that  way  them  times.  And  Miss  ^^milia,  the 
bride,  was  a  lookin'  prettier  than  any  of  'em.  And  how 
Fido,  that  was  old  marster's  big  dog,  got  under  the  win- 
dow that  night  and  set  up  sech  a  howlin'  that  nothin' 
couldn't  stop  him,  and  how  old  marster  made  my  father, 
that  was  his  coachman,  take  Fido  and  tie  him.  But 
ropes  could  n't  hold  him,  and  he  got  back  and  howled 


1 6  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

and  howled  worse  than  ever.  Not  that  I  believe  in 
them  sort  of  things  neither,  but  the  Lord  has  curus 
ways  of  niakin'  his  will  known.  And  it  was  n't  no  time 
before  Miss  Emilia  came  back  a  drivin'  in  the  same 
carridge  she  had  gone  away  in,  a  lookin'  so  grand. 
But  all  the  spirit  had  clean  gone  out  of  her  now.  She'  d 
come  back  to  die.  And  there  was  a  shakin'  of  heads 
and  a  whisperin'  round.  And  there  was  them  that 
'lowed  she  died  of  a  broken  heart." 

"You  believe  my  word,  Susan,  there's  as  many  dies 
of  broken  hearts  as  of  anything  else.  And  it  ain't 
always  the  qualitiest  people  that  makes  the  best  hus- 
bands, neither.  And  my  mother  has  told  me  often  and 
often  how,"  and  Mauma's  voice  sank  to  a  sepulchral 
whisper  as  she  went  on  "  that  moonlight  nights  when- 
ever Fido  howled  you  could  see  Miss  JEmilia,  in  her 
white  satin  weddin'  dress  and  white  veil,  a  walkin' 
slow-like  up  and  down  under  the  big  oak  where  that 
smooth  talkin'  villun  first  asked  her  to  marry  him. 
And  its  the  truth  too,  Susan,  its  the  truth,"  said  Mauma 
letting  her  voice  fall  to  a  still  more  mysterious  tone, 
"  for  my  mother  seen  her  with  her  own  eyes.  And  that 
was  how  old  marster  come  to  break  up  in  old  Virginny 
and  come  to  this  country,  that  was  n't  much  more  'n 
a  wilderness  then." 

"  I  always  did  'low  that  that  was  the  pitifullest  pictur' 
I  ever  seen,"  said  Susan  in  a  suppressed  tone,  moving 
closer  to  Mauma,  taking  in  a  deep  inspiration  as  she 
spoke. 

"  You  tell  the  truth,  Susan,  you  tell  the  truth  when 
you  say  that — the  pitifullest  look  possible,  and  how 
anybody  could  have  it  in  their  heart  to  treat  a  person 
mean  with  that  look  in  their  eyes  is  past  my  knowl- 
edge. I  ain't  got  nothin'  to  say  against  nobody,  but  it 
does  'pear  like  to  me  that  men  can  be  the  deceivinst 
creaturs  sometimes  that  the  Lord  ever  made." 

"  You  're  right  there,  sister  Viny,  you  're  right,  they 
kin.     I  hope  there  won't  be  no  dogs  a  howlin'  about 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  17 

this  place.  I  always  heard  tell  it  was  a  sure  sign  of 
death,  to  hear  a  dog  howlin'." 

.''  I  don't  'low  no  thin' — but  what  I  know  I  know — 
and  what  I  've  been  a  tellin'  you  is  the  truth,"  said 
Mauma. 

"  I  heard  a  owl  a  hootin'  last  night  and  I  got  up  to 
see  whose  window  it  was  by,  and  it  was  in  the  big  oak 
by  the  turret,  right  above  Miss  Aliena's  room.  I  hope 
it  don't  mean  no  harm  to  nobody,"  said  Susan. 

"  The  Lord  only  knows.  That 's  a  mighty  pretty 
spoken,  handsome  young  man  that 's  got  to  comin' 
around  here — that  Major  Baron — but  men  are  powerful 
deceivin',  sometimes  powerful  deceivin',"  said  Mauma. 

"  That 's  the  truth  Viney,  that 's  the  truth,"  said 
Susan  rising — continuing  apologetically.  "It's  time  I 
was  gwine  about  my  supper.     It 's  nigh  on  to  sundown." 

Soon  Susan's  voice  could  be  heard  from  the  kitchen 
crooning  one  of  those  recitative,  wailing  chants  in  the 
way  of  a  hymn  so  popular  with  negroes.  Mauma's 
story  had  probably  tinged  her  thoughts  with  supersti- 
tious fears  which  she  was  endeavoring  to  exercise. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"  Seat  thee  by  me, 
For  there  is  a  good  spirit  on  thy  h'ps 
Which  doth  enchant  the  soul.     Now  such  a  voice 
Will  drive  away  from  me  the  evil  demon 
That  beats  his  black  wings  close  above  my  head." 

Coleridge  :  Wallenstein. 

Aliena  entering  the  parlors  one  evening  when  Major 
Baron  had  been  announced,  found  him  standing  so 
absorbed  in  looking  at  a  picture  as  to  be  unconscious  of 
her  entrance  until  she  spoke. 

"I  find  a  strange  fascination  in  this  picture,"  he  said, 

2 


18  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

after  responding  to  her  salutation.  "It  grows  upon  me 
every  time  I  see  it.     Can  you  tell  me  anything  about  it  " 

"  Nothing  more  than  what  the  picture  suggests  itself 
—not  even  its  name  or  that  of  the  artist.  Father  got 
it  in  Italy  and  always  considered  it  one  of  his  finest 
gems,"  said  Aliena. 

The  picture  represented  an  almost  flat,  desolate  beach, 
without  habitation  of  any  kind.  The  sea,  in  low,  drift- 
ing waves,  stretched  far  in  perspective.  Near  the  water's 
edge  lay  a  young  girl,  over  whose  form  the  waves  appar- 
ently might  yet  wash.  The  drapery,  clinging  in  close 
folds  to  the  delicately  rounded  form,  as  well  as  the 
masses  of  dripping  hair,  seemed  to  indicate  the  fate  that 
had  befallen  her.  Over  all  was  a  dim,  lurid,  half-twilight ; 
reflected  in  dun,  dusky  hues  from  the  clouds  covering 
most  of  the  sky.  These  breaking  apart  left  the  moon 
shining  in  a  white  line  across  the  girl,  and  lighting  the 
wings  of  a  solitary  sea-gull  flying  in  the  distance. 
The  whole  picture  was  one  of  the  dreariest,  saddest 
imaginable. 

"  What  do  you  think  the  picture  suggests  ? "  asked 
Major  Baron,  still  standing  gazing  at  it. 

"There  is  no  debris,  nothing  to  indicate  a  shipwreck," 
said  Aliena.  "  And  in  the  drifting  waves  there  seems 
to  be  no  wrathful,  sullen  surge  as  though  the  sea  were 
loth  to  give  up  its  prey — as  after  a  storm.  It  seems 
ratlier  to  lap  her  form  with  sad,  caressing  touch,  like 
some  wild,  savage  thing  tamed  to  tenderness  by  helpless 
sorrow  and  beauty.  The  drear}'  look  of  land,  and  sky, 
and  sea,  seems  to  shut  her  up  to  hopelessness,  and  as  a 
woman  is  supposed  to  have  but  one  career,  to  disappointed 
love — and  to  suicide,  perhaps." 

"  You  have  probably  interpreted  it  aright,  though  it  is 
hard  to  realize  that  such  repose,  sorrowful  as  it  is,  could 
ever  have  sprung  from  suicidal  madness.  Life  seems  to 
me  too  fruitful  in  happiness  to  imagine  a  condition  so 
hopeless  as  to  make  suicide  possible.  Yet  we  know  it 
does  occur,"  said  Major  Baron  with  a  sigh.     And  turn- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  19 

ing  to  Aliena  he  continued:  "We  have  drifted  into  a 
strangely  gloomy  theme.  Let  us  try  some  music  and 
see  it"  we  cannot  exorcise  the  demon." 

Aliena  had  risen  to  comply  with  this  request  when 
Colonel  Harvey  was  announced.  She  moved  gracefully 
forward  to  greet  liim  as  he  entered  though  she  had  met 
him  only  once  before,  but  there  was  sometliing  about  the 
quiet  dignity  of  his  manner  and  the  determined  look  of  his 
gray  eyes  which  commanded  respect  and  remembrance. 

"Miss  Graeme  was  about  to  favor  me  with  some 
music,  you  will  not  object  to  hearing  it,  C'olonel,  I  am 
sure,"  said  Major  Baron. 

"  Certainly  not,  that  is  a  pleasure  I  rarely  have  an 
opportunity  to  enjoy  of  late,"  said  Colonel  Harvey 
gravely. 

And  Aliena  walked  on  over  the  soft  medallion  carpet 
through  the  wide  arch  between  the  parlors  to  where, 
in  an  alcove  in  front  of  a  lace  draped  bay  window, 
stood  her  harp  and  piano.  Seating  herself  at  the  piano 
she  ran  her  fingers  lightly  over  the  keys,  wandering 
into  one  of  those  vague,  appealing  German  studies. 

"  That  is  very  beautiful,"  said  Major  Baron  as  she 
paused,  "  but  I  thought  you  were  going  to  sing." 

"What  would  you  like  to  hear?"  she  asked,  address- 
ing Colonel  Harvey  rather  than  Major  Baron. 

"  Do  you  sing  the  Erl  King  ?  "  he  asked. 

"We  are  haunted  with  horrors  to-night,"  said  Major 
Baron  impetuously — but  seeming  to  recall  himself  he 
continued  in  a  tone  which  somehow  jarred  upon  Colonel 
Harvey,"  But  sing  it  if  the  Colonel  desires  to  hear  it." 

And  Aliena,  striking  a  few  strange,  rapid  chords  began 
to  sing  in  a  low,  clear,  flexible  voice,  which  swelled  to 
vibrant  distinctness  as  she  went  on,  her  hands  growing 
cold  and  her  face  white,  while  the  terrors  of  the  Black 
Forest,  as  depicted  by  the  wild  rush  of  weird  music  in 
the  song,  shivered  through  the  child,  the  father  and 
the  strong,  wild  horse  which  bore  them. 

Colonel  Harvey  did  not  speak  when  the  music  ceased. 


20  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  That  song  is  as  gloomy  as  the  picture.  Do  try 
sometliing  brighter,"  said  Major  Baron. 

''  Don't  ask  me,  I  can't  sing  now,"  said  Aliena  \Yith 
a  sort  of  shiver,  rising  from  the  piano. 

''  That  song  reminds  me  of  Dwight  Selden,"  said  Major 
Baron  when  Aliena  had  again  seated  herself.  ''  My 
college  friend  and  traveling  companion  when  we  met 
you  at  Nice.  You  remember  him  of  course.  He  learned 
that  song  while  we  were  in  Germany.  I  hear  he  is  in 
command  of  a  ^Massachusetts  regiment.  It  is  hard  to 
think  that  after  all  our  friendship  we  ma}'  meet  as  mortal 
foes,  in  deadly  combat  now — and  yet  it  is  by  no  means 
improbable."  Major  Baron  paused,  but  as  no  one 
seemed  disposed  to  speak  he  went  on.  ''  Did  I  ever  tell 
3'ou  that  I  met  Lieut.  Massey,  last  summer,  in  Virginia ; 
you  know  he  was  on  the  Susquehanna,  at  Kice  that 
same  winter.  Judge  Massey,  his  father,  aa  ho  was  visit- 
ing him  at  the  time,  was  one  of  the  most  elegant  gentle- 
men I  ever  met,  and  his  mother  and  sister  were  very 
pleasant.  Lieut.  iNL^ssey  left  the  navy  when  Georgia 
seceded,  and  is  major  in  one  of  their  regiments." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  Lieut.  Massej' joined  our  army. 
I  could  scarcely  imagine  otherwise,"  said  Aliena.  And 
turning  to  Colonel  Harvey  she  addressed  herself  to  him. 
But  the  conversation  seemed  to  flag,  and  Colonel  Har- 
vey soon  rose  and  said  rather  abruptly,  "It  is  time  I 
was  returning  to  camp."  He  had  called  upon  business 
in  reality.  By  request  of  the  commanding  officer  of  tlie 
post  he  had  come  to  endeavor  to  induce  Mrs.  Graeme 
and  Aliena  to  seek  a  place  of  greater  safety,  but  had 
determined  to  await  a  more  fitting  op[)ortunity. 

i\Iajor  Baron,  however,  also  arose  and  saying  good 
night  they  left  together.  Neither,  for  some  reason, 
seemed  in  a  very  social  state  of  mind,  and  for  some 
moments  not  a  word  was  spoken. 

"Are  you  going  to  Major  Watt's  party  to-night, 
Colonel  ?  "  Major  Baron  said  at  length. 

"  No,  I  care  nothing  for  parties,  especially  now  when 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  21 

a  bombardment  is  imminent.  It  may  be  expected  any 
night.  You  know  the  enemy  are  intent  upon  passing 
with  their  gnnboats." 

''  I  am  thinking  of  going  any  way.  Anything  to  break 
the  monotony  of  camp  life.  Will  you  have  a  cigar?" 
said  Major  Baron  proffering  one. 

"  Thank  you,  I  never  smoke,"  Colonel  Harvey  said 
rather  curtly. 

Lighting  his  cigar  Major  Baron  smoked  on  in  silence 
for  a  time,  but  impelled  by  a  sense  of  propriety  he  said, 
'*  It  is  singular  to  see  a  soldier  not  addicted  to  tobacco 
in  some  form.  I  don't  know  what  I  should  do  without 
its  calming  influence." 

'*  I  generally  manage  to  keep  calm  without  extraneous 
assistance,"  said  Colonel  Harvey  coldly. 

''  I  wish  I  could  say  as  much,  but  hot  southern  blood 
uncurbed  in  youth  is  not  alwaj^s  the  best  possible 
investment." 

"  The  value  of  the  investment  may  depend  upon  the 
substratum  of  moral  principle,"  said  Colonel  Harvey 
with  a  hardness  in  his  voice  which  served  to  put  an  end 
to  the  conversation  for  the  short  time  before  they  separ- 
ated, the  one  for  his  fortification  and  the  other  for  the 
ball  to  v/liich  he  was  going. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"But  soon  obscured  Avith  smoke  all  Heaven  appear'd 
From  those  deep-throated  engines  belch'd,  whose  roar 
Embowel'd  with  outrageous  noise  the  air. 
Infernal  thunder,  and  for  lightning  see 
Black  fire,  and  horror,  shot  with  eager  rage." 

Milton  :  Paradise  Lost. 

Aliena  Graeme  the  same  night  was  suddenly  awak- 
ened by  the  sound  of  cannon.  Springing  from  bed  she 
hurriedly  dressed,  while  the  firing  from  gunboats  and 


22  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

garrison  increased  fearfully,  and  crossing  the  hall  she 
entered  her  mother's  room.  Mrs.  Graeme  was  already 
up  and  dressed,  and  descending  the  stairway  together 
they  intended  to  seek  safety  in  the  valley  in  the  rear  of 
Castle  Hill,  where  they  were  accustomed  to  take  refuge 
when  the  bombardment  was  unusually  severe.  Thither 
the  servants,  except  Mauma,  had  already  fled.  As  they 
reached  the  door  the  whizzing  of  shot  and  shell  over- 
head, with  the  explosion  of  a  shell  with  frightful  con- 
cussion just  before  them  drove  them  again  into  the 
house.  Now,  overcome  by  the  desire  to  see  Avhat  was 
going  on,  they  ventured  to  the  front  of  the  Castle. 
There  a  spectacle  never  to  be  forgotten  met  their  eyes. 

At  the  tiring  of  the  first  gun  houses  filled  Avith  in- 
flammable material  prepared  for  this  purpose  at  inter- 
vals along  the  river  bank,  had  been  set  on  fire.  Fanned 
by  the  wind  these  now  crackled  and  flamed,  lighting 
the  scene  for  miles  with  the  lurid  glare.  Vicksburg, 
illumined  by  the  burning  houses,  rose  to  view — tier  upon 
tier — like  a  great  amphitheater,  in  the  curve  of  the  river. 
Here  cannon  and  mortar  behind  earth  works  were  pour- 
ing a  continuous  fire  upon  the  fleet  of  gunboats  and 
barges  that,  piled  for  protection  with  cotton  bales,  were 
steaming  around  the  narrow  peninsula  and  on  down  the 
"inland  sea;"  their  chimneys  snorting  fire  and  smoke 
which  their  rapid  motion  left  in  black  clouds  in  their 
rear ;  while  from  the  sides  of  the  boats  cannon  and  mor- 
tar poured  a  deadlier  fire  upon  the  devoted  city. 

The  low  hanging  clouds,  which  had  obscured  the  sky 
and  favored  the  passage  of  the  fleet,  reflecting  the  lurid 
light,  now  trembled  as  with  affright  at  the  fearful  con- 
cussion— as  cannon-ball,  grape  and  shell,  whirring, 
whizzing,  rattling  and  roaring,  crossed  and  recrossed 
in  meteoric  splendor  over  head. 

So  fascinated  were  Aliena  and  Mrs.  Graeme  with  the 
awful  sublimity  of  the  scene  as  almost  to  have  lost 
consciousness  of  personal  danger;  but  Mauma  who  had 
joined  them  in  awe-stricken  silence  overcome  by  terror 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  23 

marked  the  nearer  and  more  terrific  crashes  by  the 
ejacuhitorv  prayer,  ''  Good  Lord  I  have  mercy  on  us. 
Good  Lord  I  protect  us." 

Hugi  and  Dot  whining,  and  trembling,  came  crouch- 
ing to  their  feet ;  the  two  peacocks  flew  down  with  a 
hoarse  discordant  cry  from  their  perch  in  the  live  oak ; 
the  mocking  birds  whirled,  screaming  around  their  nest 
in  the  magnolia  tree. 

The  cotton  bales  taking  fire  at  length  upon  one  of 
the  boats  were  thrown  overboard;  but  continuing  to 
barn,  the  waves,  reflecting  the  glare,  leaping  up  seemed 
to  lap  the  boats  in  flame.  The  side  of  the  boat,  thus 
left  unprotected,  was  struck  again  and  again,  and  soon 
it  became  evident  that  the  boat  was  sinking.  And 
slowly  settling  it  went  down  in  the  deep  water,  leaving 
hundreds  of  soldiers  struggling  and  drowning  in  the 
surging  waves. 

Still  the  fearful  firing  went  on.  Another  boat  seemed 
about  succumbing,  adding  horror  to  the  scene.  But 
the  cruel  drama  was  drawing  to  a  close.  The  boats 
still  firing  broadside  after  broadside,  steamed  rapidly  on 
down  the  river,  and  it  became  evident  that  the  effort  to 
pass  Vicksburg  was  accomplished. 

Mrs.  Graeme,  overcome  by  the  horrors  she  had  wit- 
nessed, accompanied  by  Mauma,  re-entered  the  house. 
But  Aliena  held  by  a  terrible  fascination  remained, 
eagerly  watching  the  rescue  of  the  soldiers  from  watery 
graves  in  the  little  boats  that  put  out  from  either  shore 
for  that  purpose.  While  from  her  woman's  heart  went 
.up  the  prayer,  "Lord,  save  or  they  perish."  The  light 
of  the  burning  houses  flickered  out,  gray  dawn  slowly 
merged  into  the  roseate  tints  of  morning,  tinging  earth 
and  sky  and  warming  to  a  more  life-like  hue  Aliena's 
colorless  face,  as  she  still  stood  leaning  with  a  wearied 
look  of  dejection  against  one  of  the  columns  of  the 
colonnade,  gazing  at  the  now  quiet  scene  before  her. 

The  soft  air  laden  with  the  perfume  of  early  spring 
flowers  was  swaying  the   white  banksia  rose  entwined 


24  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

about  the  column  above  her  head,  sprinkling  her  lumi- 
nous brown  hair  and  black  dress  with  showers  of  the 
fragrant  white  petals  as  with  snow-flakes. 

The  mocking-bird,  rocking  and  swaying  upon  the 
topmost  sun-lit  tip  of  the  live  oak,  was  singing  a  rapt- 
urous love  song  to  his  mate  safe  upon  her  nest  in  the 
magnolia.  The  peacocks  were  calmly  displaying  their 
gorgeous  iridescent  plumage  upon  the  lawn. 

Everything  was  now  so  tranquil  that  it  was  hard  to 
realize  that  a  frightful  drama,  fraught  with  such  dire 
disaster  to  the  Confederate  cause,  had  but  just  been 
enacted  before  their  eves. 


CHAPTER  V. 

"  Sighs,  and  slow  smiles,  and  golden  eloquence, 
And  amorous  adulation." 

Tennysox  :  Idyls  of  a  King. 

"  It  may  be  good-bye  as  well  as  good-night  you  are 
saving — as  we  have  made  up  our  minds  to  leave  here," 
said  Aliena  Graeme  to  ]\Iajor  Baron  the  evening  after 
the  bombardment,  as  they  stood  upon  the  colonnade, 
having  returned  from  a  row  upon  the  lake  in  the  rear 
of  Castle  Hill,  which  had  kept  them  until  the  full  moon 
had  risen. 

''  Leave  here  ? "  he  exclaimed  as  though  such  a 
thought  liad  never  occurred  to  him,  despite  its  obvious 
necessity,  especially  since  the  passage  of  the  gunboats. 
"  AVhy  did  n't  you  tell  me  before  ?  " 

'^  It  pains  me  so  to  think  of  it  that  I  have  tried  to 
banish  the  thought.  I  have  felt  all  along  that  it  was 
inevitable,  that  in  mother's  health  the  excitement  was 
killing  her,  and  we  had  been  trying  to  make  up  our 
minds  to  leave,  but  Colonel  Harvey  came  this  morning 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  25 

to  urge  us  to  do  so  in  the  name  of  General  Pendleton, 
and  we  have  promised  to  go.  It  is  hard  to  leave  home 
Avith  all  its  memories,  its  love,  and  its  sorrow.  But  it 
must  be,  and  Avhat  must  be  done  had  best  be  done 
quickly,"  she  said,  her  voice  quivering  with  emotion. 

"  It  does  seem  hard  that  you  must  go,  very  hard," 
said  Major  Baron. 

"  Yes,  it  is  indeed.  Every  spot,  and  sprig,  and  leaf 
seems  instinct  with  love.  And  yet  we-  must  go,  turn  it 
all  over  to  the  cruel  enemies  of  war,  and  set  ourselves 
adrift." 

''It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  your  beautiful 
home  should  have  taken  so  firm  a  hold  upon  your 
heart,"  said  Major  Baron  sadly. 

"Any  home  with  what  I  have  had  to  make  this 
dear  would  be  loved  by  me,  yet  I  cannot  but  feel  that 
its  beauty  does  make  it  dearer,"  said  Aliena. 

"  Will  you  sing  me  one  song  before  I  go  ?  "  said 
Major  Baron,  and  instead  of  leaving  he  walked  slowly 
on  with  Aliena  into  the  parlors  to  where  her  harp  stood. 
Here  she  seated  herself  and  her  fingers  wandered 
vaguely  over  the  strings.  "  Won't  you  sing  Savourneen 
Delish  for  me  ?  "  Major  Baron  asked,  and  without  a 
Avord  striking  the  chords  preluding  this  pathetic  old 
Irish  ballad  Aliena  sang  with  tremulous  tenderness-, 
simplicity  and  patlios, 

"  Oh  !  sad  was  the  day  when  my  love  and  I  parted, 

Savourneen  delish,  Eileen  Ogg. 
Wan  was  her  cheek  as  she  wept  on  myshoulder, 
Damp  was  her  hand,  no  marble  was  colder ; 
I  felt  in  my  heart  I  ne'er  more  should  behold  her, 

Savourneen  delish,  Eileen  Ogg. 

Long  I  fought  for  my  country,  far,  far  from  my  true  love, 

Savourneen  delish,  Eileen  Ogg. 
All  my  pay  and  my  booty  I  lioarded  for  you  love, 

Savourneen  delish,  Eileen  Ogg. 
Peace  was  proclaimed — escaped  from  danger, 
Landed  at  home,  my  sweet  girl  then  I  sought  her, 
But  sorrow  alas  !  to  the  cold  grave  had  brought  her, 

Savourneen  delish,  Eileen  Ogg. 


26  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

The  song  ceased,  and  Major  Baron  sat  in  silence 
beside  Aliena  until  she  rose  and  moved  from  the  harp. 
They  halted  mechanically  in  front  of  a  curiously  carved 
ebony  table,  in  the  center  of  the  arched  way  between 
the  rooms,  upon  which  stood  an  epergne  of  exquisite 
fresh  flowers. 

"  You  must  have  arranged  these  yourself. — It  re- 
quired an  artist  to  do  it,"  said  Major  Baron  gazing  at 
the  flowers  abstractedly. 

'^  I  did  arrange  them.  If  love  for  the  l^eautiful  could 
make  me  an  artist  I  must  be  one.  It  seems  to  me  they 
were  never  so  sweet  and  beautiful  as  now  that  I  must 
leave  them." 

"  That  is  a  very  universal  law  I  find,"  said  Major 
Baron  gazing  at  Aliena,  whose  humid  eyes  seemed 
intent  upon  the  pelargoniums,  tea-roses,  jasmines  and 
calla  lilies ;  which,  blended  with  delicate  foliage  and 
trailing  vines,  adorned  the  epergne,  where  a  cupid, 
exquisitely  carved  in  silver,  poised  above  the  head  of  a 
Flora,  was  crowning  the  goddess  with  flowers. 

"I  can't  say  good-bye  to-night,"  he  said  after  anotlier 
silence,  and  taking  a  cigar  from  his  case  he  asked  per- 
mission to  light  it,  and  tearing  an  envelope  in  two, 
which  he  had  produced  for  that  purpose,  he  dropped 
lialf  of  it  upon  the  table,  lighting  his  cigar  Avith  the 
other,  and  glancing  through  the  open  window  he  said, 
''  The  moonlight  is  beautiful,  we  may  never  see  it  again 
together.  Won't  you  come  out  upon  the  colonnade," 
and  they  walked  on  out. 

Here  they  stood  looking  over  the  moonlight  flooded 
lawn,  the  vases  of  flowering  plants,  the  sloping  liill- 
side  with  its  trees,  its  shadows,  and  its  soft  rifts  of 
moonlight,  and  beyond  at  the  "  inland  sea  "  of  silver, 
with  the  dusky  sheen  of  the  gunboats  in  the  distance, 
against  the  black  background  of  cane-brake  and  gloomy 
moss-draped  cypress. 

The  evening  breeze  was  sprinkling  them  with  the 
petals  of  the  roses  above  them.     The  soft  April  air  was 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  27 

heavy  with  the  perfume  of  roses,  and  jasmines.  A 
mocking  bird  could  be  heard  singing  from  one  of  the 
trees  down  the  hill-side. 

"  It  is  beautiful  indeed,  more  beautiful  than  I  ever 
thought  or  than  it  can  ever  seem  again,"  said  Major 
Baron  in  a  low  voice.  Aliena  made  no  reply  and  he 
continued,  '*  And  you  are  reall}^  going?  " 

^'*  Yes,  we  must  go,"  she  said  with  a  tremor  in  her 
voice. 

"  I  cannot  say  good-bye.  I  shall  see  you  again,"  he 
said  after  another  silence,  and  pressing  her  hand  linger- 
ingly  he  left. 

Aliena  remained  standing  upon  the  colonnade  until 
the  sound  of  Major  Baron's  horse's  tread  could  no  longer 
be  heard,  and  then  slowly  turning  re-entered  the  par- 
lors. Here  gazing  sadly  at  the  flowers  she  re-arranged 
one  or  two,  touching  them  as  tenderly  as  though  they 
were  truly  things  of  life.  As  she  did  so  her  eyes  fell 
upon  the  piece  of  torn  envelope,  and  taking  it  up  she 
found  herself  studying  the  superscription  with  curious 
interest.  The  post  mark  had -been  torn  away.  It  bore 
only  the  address  ]Major  Cecil  Baron,  Vicksburg,  Missis- 
sippi, written  in  a  cramped,  feminine  hand. 

Hearing  footsteps  in  the  hall  she  put  the  piece  of 
envelope  into  a  book  with  a  guilty  feeling.  It  was 
only  a  servant  and  Aliena  ascended  to  her  room. 

"Laws  a  marcy  on  us  !"  exclaimed  Mauma  as  later 
she  entered  Aliena's  unlit  room. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Mauma?"  asked  Aliena  from 
her  seat  near  the  window. 

"  Bless  the  Lord  !  Honey,  I  thought  you  w^as  a  ghost," 
said  Mauma,  dropping  into  a  chair  near  the  door.  "  You 
look  jest  like  one  a  settin'  there  with  the  moonlight  a 
shinin'  in  acrost  you.  I  wonder  wdiat  possessed  that 
triflin'  piece,  Nannette,  not  to  light  your  light,"  and 
bustling  up  Mauma  was  about  to  light  it  herself. 

"  Never  mind,  Mauma,  I  don't  want  a  light.  Nannette 
is  not  to  blame,  I  put  it  out  myself  to  enjoy  the  moou- 


28  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

light.  It  seems  to  me  it  was  never  so  beautiful  as 
to-night.  And  after  a  few  more  days  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  see  the  moon  set  beyond  the  river  for  many  a 
long,  weary  day,  if  ever,"  Aliena  said  sadly. 

"  You  had  better  come  away  from  that  window,  honey, 
and  not  be  lettin'  that  night  air  blow  in  on  you,  or  you 
mayn't  live  to  see  it  set  no  more.  When  I  come  up 
this  mornin'  to  see  if  Nannette  had  intended  to  every- 
thing, I  heerd  a  woodpecker  a  peckin'  right  over  this 
room,  where  the  branches  of  the  big  oak  come.  It 
sounded  for  all  the  world  like  nailin'  nails  in  a  coffin, 
and  I  aint  heerd  that  sound  since  the  day  marster  was 
took.  Not  that  I  believe  in  them  sort  of  things  neither, 
but  you  know  the  Lord  has  curus  ways  of  makin'  his 
will  known.  Do  you  want  anything,  honey  ?  "  ]Mauma 
asked,  seeing  that  Aliena  was  not  disposed  to  talk. 

"  No,  I  thank  you,  Mauma,  I  don't  need  anything," 
said  Aliena. 

"  Well,  good-night,  honey,"  said  Mauma  retiring  with 
a  formal  courtesy,  which  she  had  doubtless  learned  from 
her  mother,  a  relic  of  the  quality  manners  of  olden 
times. 

The  wind  rose,  and  the  clouds  began  to  drift  across 
the  sky  and  to  obscure  the  moon  before  Aliena  retired 
for  the  night  to  restless  dreaming. 

In  her  dreams  Aliena  was  again  in  the  little  boat 
i^pon  the  lake  with  Major  Baron,  floating  in  the  soft 
moonlight.  The  odors  of  flowers  and  songs  of  birds 
were  about  her.  There  came  over  her  a  sweet  feeling 
of  rest.  All  the  burden  of  life  seemed  rolled  away,  and 
humanity  to  have  lost  its  materialism.  The  spiritualized 
essence,  as  though  freed  from  "  the  muddy  vesture  of 
decay,"  etherialized,  uncompressed,  expanded,  glorified, 
seemed  to  float  no  longer  upon  the  lake,  but  on  an  ocean, 
into  which  boundless  expanse  the  lake  seemed  merged ; 
upon  whose  billows  she  rocked  in  happiness  as  illimitable 
as  space. 

Suddenly  Major  Baron  seemed  to  disappear  and   in 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  29 

the  water  was  a  horrible,  black  demon,  showing  his 
great  teeth  and  rolling  his  frightful,  lurid  eyes.  His 
hands,  like  fearful  talons,  clutched  her  now  shrunken, 
humanized  form,  which  seemed  too  small  to  endure 
the  beating  of  her  compressed  heart,  thumping  and 
hammering  against  her  side,  as  she  writhed  in  his 
loathsome  grasp.  As  he  struggled  to  drag  her  down 
into  the  deep  water,  another  form  appeared,  not  Major 
Baron's,  whose  place  it  filled.  He  grasped  the  grim 
monster  with  an  iron  grip,  and  thrust  him  down  under 
the  water;  and  as  he  rose  thrust  him  back  again  and 
again.  Holding  him  there  until  the  convulsive  throes 
and  struggles  for  life  churned  the  black  water  to  foam, 
as  the  monster  plunged,  and  squirmed,  and  gasped  in 
death  agony. 

She  awoke  suddenl}^  with  a  shudder,  cold  and  clammy 
Avith  horror.  Branches  of  the  great  oak,  heavy  with 
rain,  were  screeching  against  the  roof.  Drop — splash — 
trickle — continually  the  dreary  sound,  with  now  and  then 
the  same  moaning  screech  upon  the  roof,  which  she 
continued  to  hear.  She  slept  again  at  length,  but  she 
awoke  suddenly  in  the  morning  with  that  dull,  unde- 
fined feeling  of  anxiety  and  burden  at  taking  up  life 
again. 

The  air  was  alive  w^ith  sound.  The  sun  was  rising 
big  and  red,  the  birds  were  twittering  and  pluming 
themselves ;  or  flitting  with  exultant  song  from  tree  to 
tree,  shaking  glittering  showers  from  twig  and  branch. 
Sunshine  and  flashing  rain-drops  made  all  nature  radiant. 
A  contrast  that  seemed  to  deepen  the  gloom  at  Aliena's 
heart  as  she  thought  how  soon  she  was  to  say  good-bye 
to  all  these  loved  surroundings. 

And  soon  the  busy  sound  of  nailing  and  packing  was 
heard  throuHi  the  Castle.  Trunks  were  beino^  exhumed 
from  the  attics,  where  faded  relics  of  past  generations 
had  accumulated ;  the  quaintly  fashioned  garments  of 
olden  times ;  the  narrow  skirts  and  stiff  brocades ;  the 
moth-eaten  revolutionary  uniforms  ;  the  knee-breeches, 


30  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

and  queer,  old,  long  waistcoats;  the  quaintly-carved, 
slim-legged,  rickety  chairs  and  furniture,  grown  black 
with  age ;  the  faded  damask  ;  the  old,  worm-eaten  books ; 
the  piles  of  letters,  with  big  seals  of  strange  devices, 
grown  yellow  with  age,  with  words  loving  or  otherwise, 
like  their  memories,  fast  fading  to  nothingness.  Even 
the  yellowed  satin  wedding-dress  of  the  unfortunate 
aunt  of  melancholy  memory — all  were  to  be  left,  much 
as  Aliena  had  delighted  in  them. 

Carpets  began  to  lie  around  in  rolls,  smelling  strongly 
of  tobacco  ;  furniture  to  go  into  shrouds ;  curtains  to  be 
consigned  to  boxes ;  bookcases  to  become  vaults  in  which 
their  treasures  were  to  be  buried.  The  Castle  was  to 
be  deserted — to  be  given  up  to  the  fate  of  war.  Home, 
with  all  its  tender  memories,  desolate. 


CHAPTER  VI 

"  Tell  me  the  dream  and  I  shall  know  that  you  can  show  me  the  inter- 
pretation thereof.  Thou,  0  King,  sawest  and  behold  a  great  image.  This 
image,  whose  brightness  was  excellent,  stood  before  thee  ;  and  the  form 
thereof  was  terrible.  This  image's  head  was  of  fine  gold,  his  breast  and 
arms  of  silver,  his  belly  and  his  thighs  of  brass,  his  legs  of  iron,  and  his 
feet  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay." 

Daniel  II :  Nebuchadnezzar's  Dream. 

Major  Baron  could  have  been  seen  some  days  after 
the  scenes  depicted,  at  a  late  hour  at  night  seated  upon 
the  gallery  of  the  hotel  in  Jackson,  in  apparently  a  state 
of  abnormal  depression.  Thither,  after  mutually  plighted 
troth,  he  had  accompanied  Aliena  Graeme,  and  here 
they  had  said  farewell.  His  depression  was  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  since  he  had  this  evening  been  enduring 
the  sweet  pain  of  parting. 

Among  the  group  of  officers  whom  Major  Baron  had 
joined  upon  the  gallery  w\as  Colonel  Harvey,  who  had 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  31 

been  sent  to  Jackson  upon  business,  going  on  the  same 
train  with  Major  Baron,  Aliena  and  her  mother.  Most 
of  the  group  were  smoking,  seated  with  their  feet  ele- 
vated upon  the  balustrade,  their  chairs  tilted  back. 
Even  Major  Baron  with  his  usual  regard  for  the  elegan- 
cies of  life  was  indulging  in  this  Americanism. 

''  By  the  way  Major,"  said  Captain  Wilmer  address- 
ing Major  Baron,  "  what  became  of  that  lovely  creature 
I  saw  you  flying  to  cover  with,  the  night  of  the  bom- 
bardment in  Vicksburg  ?  " 

"Of  Avhat  lovely  creature  are  you  speaking?"  said 
Major  Baron. 

"  Possibly  Colonel  Harvey  can  refresh  your  memory," 
suggested  some  one. 

''  Oh  I  no.  Colonel  Harvey  was  too  intent  upon  duty 
for  anything  so  frivolous  as  parties.  He  was  watching 
the  Yankees.  I  thought  every  one  knew  that  he  had 
the  glory  of  firing  the  first  gun  that  night.  But  Baron, 
you  need  not  pretend  ignorance.  If  you  have  forgotten 
1  have  not.  I  was  in  Vicksburg  myself  that  night  with 
a  party  of  ladies  from  here.  They  stampeded  at  the 
hrst  gun  and  of  course  I  had  to  fly  with  them  and  was 
present  when  you  consigned  your  fair  charge.  Miss 
belwyn,  with  whispered  adieux,  to  Mrs.  Knowland's 
care,    said  Captain  Wilmer. 

Colonel  Harvey  sat  silently  stroking  his  beard  with 
a  sense  of  irritation  at  the  turn  the  conversation  had 
taken.  He  interrupted  it  rather  abruptly  by  saying, 
''  It  is  rumored  that  General  Johnston  is  to  be  here 
to-night.  It  is  time  for  the  train,  I  think,"  and  taking 
out  his  watch  and  looking  at  it  he  added,  "  Yes,  it  is 
twelve  o'clock.  Suppose  we  go  and  see  if  he  is  aboard." 
''  Ihere  is  the  train  now,"  said  Captain  Wilmer  as 
the  distant  whistle  was  heard. 

^.J^\?  ^'^v®^  ^^^^^  ^^^^  railroad  track,  at  only  about 
htty  teet  distance,  and  soon  the  long  white  light  became 
visible  upon  the  track,  the  sparks  falling  in  lurid 
showers  m  the  darkness   behind,  and    the    train  came 


32  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

whistling,  ringing,  jarring  and   thundering  on  to  the 
pLatforni. 

"  Let  us  go  and  see  who  is  aboard  ?  "  proposed  Col- 
onel Harvey.  "  It  is  said  that  General  Johnston  is 
urging  reinforcements  for  Vicksburg  and  that  we  will 
liave  warm  work  there  soon.  I  see  there  is  an  unusual 
number  of  soldiers  on  the  train." 

Ill  the  nickering  light  of  the  pine  torches  illuminat- 
ing the  platform,  they  could  see  the  throng  of  soldiers 
who  had  been  packed  and  jammed  in  the  train,  pouring 
out  at  every  door,  yawning  and  stretching  on  the  plat- 
form; relieved  at  the  possibility  of  once  more  straight- 
ening themselves,  and  at  the  prospect  of  uncramped 
sleep  even,  upon  the  ground. 

"  ni  be  doggoned  if  I  would  n't  consider  the  top  rail 
of  a  fence  an  uncommon  luxury  now,  in  the  way  of 
sleeping  accommodation,"  said  one  of  the  soldiers,  emerg- 
ing from  the  car,  and  going  through  wonderful  gyrations 
in  the  way  of  stretching,  relieved  at  finding  his  joints 
still  capable  of  movement. 

"  You  are  about  right  there,"  said  his  companion. 
''  I  feel  as  if  I  had  been  tied  into  a  double  bow  knot 
until  there  was  not  stiffening  enough  in  me  to  make 
the  ends  stand  out  " 

"  You  stand  out  of  my  way  there.  It 's  loose  tackling 
that 's  moving  my  lower  limbs  just  now,  they  are 
stretched  out  of  all  gear  from  folding  up  too  tight," 
said  another  stumbling  against  the  last  speaker. 

The  crowd  of  soldiers  that  continued  to  tumble  and 
scramble  out  in  confusion,  soon  began  to  look  as  won- 
derfully out  of  proportion  to  their  limited  means  of 
conveyance  as  the  articles  from  a  necromancer's  hat  to 
its  size.  The  ladies'  car  was  also  crowded  with  soldiers, 
principally  officers.  Now  and  then  a  woman's  face 
began  to  appear. 

A  young,  pretty,  rosy-cheeked  woman  leaned  with 
such  conscious  pride  upon  the  arm  of  a  youthful  look- 
ing officer,  into  whose  face  she  smiled  beamingl}^  that 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  33 

it  was  apparent  they  had  been  married  within  the 
Mosaic  period  of  military  exemption.  If  his  patriotism 
did  not  2^ermit  him  to  urge  tliis  plea  his  strength  of 
will  was  evidently  not  equal  to  enforced  separation. 

A  care-worn  woman,  pale  perhaps  from  sleepless 
anxiety,  possibly  going  to  nurse  a  sick  or  wounded 
husband,  was  assisted,  by  volunteers,  to  the  platform, 
her  baby  fretting  in  her  arms,  at  this  disturbance  of  its 
slumbers,  at  so  unwonted  an  hour  of  the  night. 

"General  Johnston  has  not  arrived,  it  seems.  We 
might  as  well  go  back,"  said  Colonel  Harvey  as  the  cars 
seemed  emptied  of  passengers.  And  they  were  aljout 
to  return  to  the  hotel  when  a  woman  apparently  alone 
appeared  on  the  platform  of  the  ladies'  car. 

Major  Baron,  with  his  accustomed  gallantry,  stepped 
forward  to  assist  her  from  the  car.  As  she  turned, 
facing  the  light,  he  gave  a  start  of  surprise,  withdraw- 
ing his  hand  as  he  caught  sight  of  the  beautiful,  girlish 
face,  with  its  straight,  delicate  features,  clear  olive 
complexion,  black  hair  and  great,  startled  black  eyes. 

"Cecil!"  she  exclaimed,  starting  forward  with  a 
wild  impulse  of  affection,  her  beautiful  face  lighting  up 
with  a  tender  glow  as  she  saw  him. 

But,  checked  b}^  his  manner,  she  crimsoned,  becoming 
conscious  of  the  presence  of  others,  to  which  her  sur- 
prised delight  had  evidently  made  her  oblivious.  ^lajor 
Baron,  remembering  himself,  again  proffered  his  hand 
to  assist  her ;  saying  in  an  under-tone,  in  which  surprise 
and  annoyance,  not  to  say  indignation,  were  evident, 
"  Zara,  what  are  you  doing  here  ?  " 

"  I  must  see  you,"  she  said,  in  a  low,  supplicating  tone  ; 
glancing  back  nervously  as  she  spoke. 

"  I  will  see  you  again,"  he  said  in  the  same  suppressed 
tone,  stepping  back  abruptly,  as  a  slouching,  sinister- 
looking,  middle-aged  man,  encumbered  with  a  basket, 
shawls  and  satchel,  came  out  of  the  car. 

The  man  glowered  at  him  from  under  his  heavy,  black 
3 


34  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

eye-brows  as  he  passed  on,  saying  in  a  harsh  under-tone 
to  the  girl,  "  Zara,  what  for  is  it,  that  man  is  here  ?  " 

'*  I  don't  know,  father,"  said  the  girl  in  a  low,  musical 
voice,  as  they  moved  on. 

"  Who  is  your  friend  ?  She  is  certainly  dangerously 
beautiful,"  said  Capt.  Wilmer  to  Major  Baron. 

'*  She  is  the  wife  of  one  of  my  soldiers,"  said  Major 
Baron,  evidently  embarrassed,  stumbling  out  a  falsehood 
in  his  perplexity. 

"More  is  the  pity  for  her  husband,"  said  Colonel 
Harvey  in  a  hard  tone,  having  overheard  the  few  Avords 
that  had  passed  between  Major  Baron  and  the  girl. 

Though  irritated  by  Colonel  Harvey's  tone,  and  evi- 
dent implication.  Major  Baron  felt  it  incumbent  upon 
him  to  swallow  the  affront  silentl}',  if  such  Avere  intended. 
Major  Baron  was  not  such  a  neophyte  in  secrecy  as  he 
may  appear  upon  this  occasion.  But  the  most  self- 
possessed  is  at  times  liable  to  be  thrown  off  his  guard. 
He  could  keep  a  secret.  A  manly  virtue  in  which  he 
prided  himself.  Though  possibly  he  had  never  arrived 
at  that  higher  standard  which  makes  secrecy  no  longer 
necessary. 

The  party  separated  as  they  entered  the  hotel.  Col- 
onel Harvey  ascended  to  his  room  in  a  state  of  disgust 
for  Major  Baron.  A  disgust  which  the  moral  standard  of 
men  hinges  usually  rather  upon  truthfulness  than  upon 
the  observance  of  some  other  of  the  Mosaic  laws.  But 
this  feeling  was  intensified  in  him  by  the  remembrance 
of  her  with  whom  he  knew  that  Major  Baron  had  that 
evening  parted  upon  the  car ;  as  well  as  by  the  thought 
of  the  beautiful,  frightened  girlish  face,  whose  love  liad 
evidently  been  repelled  by  Major  Baron's  rebuff'.  This 
had  stirred  within  him  that  innate  desire  to  protect 
which  helplessness  arouses  in  every  truly  noble,  manly 
nature. 

Major  Baron,  later,  joined  Capt. Wilmer  and  others  in 
a  game  of  cards.  They  Avere  '*  making  a  night  of  it " 
preparatory  to  taking  the  early  morning  train  for  Vicks- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  35 

burg.  Their  flushed  faces  and  noisy  hilarity  as  they 
jostled  and  crowded  upon  the  morning  cars  made  it  quite 
evident  how  they  had  been  spending  their  time.  Colo- 
nel Harvey,  who  was  also  returning,  avoided  them  by 
taking  a  different  coach  for  Vicksburg. 

Aliena  had  made  her  an  image,  "  fair  to  look  upon," 
whose  brightness  was  excellent  as  Nebuchadnezzar's 
vision,  but  "  his  feet  Avere  of  clay." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  Ay,  thou  'rt  awake,  yet  dreamst.     Where  now  the  hours 
That  round  thy  brow  witli  flow'ry  garlands  play'd  ? 
The  days,  when  unrestraiu'd,  thy  yearning  soul 
Freely  explored  the  heaven's  o'er  arching  blue  "?  " 

Goethe:  Torqcato  Tasso. 

The  cars  failing  to  make  connection  at  Chattanooga, 
as  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  were  pursuing  their  weary 
journey,  they  were  compelled  to  get  off  in  a  drizzling 
rain,  and  go  to  the  hotel.  Here,  with  the  other  un- 
fortunate travelers,  they  were  crowded  into  a  small, 
steamy,  reception  room,  until  after  some  delay  rooms 
could  be  secured. 

When  Mrs.  Graeme  entered  her  room,  she  sank  into 
a  chair  with  a  look  of  weariness  of  body  and  mind  that 
made  Aliena  apprehensive.  But  at  the  hideous  sound 
of  a  gong,  she  made  the  effort  to  descend  with  her 
daughter  to  the  lower  floor,  Avhere  they  were  ushered 
into  the  low-pitched,  dimly-lighted,  dismal  looking  supper 
room. 

Here,  long,  narrow  tables,  covered  with  dingy  table 
cloths,  and  spread  with  thick,  coarse  delf  ware,  stood  at 
intervals  along  the  large,  gloomy  room.  Above  the 
tables,  suspended  by  hinges  from  the  ceiling,  which  per- 
mitted them  to  move  back  and  forth,  were  large,  square 


36  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

fans,  formed  of  cloth  tacked  upon  light  frames ;  which 
ma}'  have,  at  some  remote  period,  been  white.  The 
fans  were  connected  by  cords  passed  over  rollers  into 
the  hands  of  a  sleepy-looking  negro  boy,  of  about  four- 
teen. He,  lazily  pulling  and  permitting  the  cords  to 
roll  back,  continuously  moved  the  fans,  performing  the 
double  office  of  keeping  the  guests  cool  and  of  ridding 
them  of  the  EgyjDtian  plague  of  flies  that  Avould  other- 
wise have  afflicted  them. 

This  monotonous  exercise  proved  so  lulling  to  the 
boy,  that  he  was  constantly  alternating  between  a  state 
of  semi-somnolence,  which  scarcely  stojDped  the  move- 
ment of  the  fans,  and  a  startled,  wide-awake,  upward 
glance  to  assure  himself  that  they  were  again  in  motion, 
which  created  the  impression  that  he  was  given  to  ejac- 
ulatory  prayer.  A  habit  that  hr.d  caused  him  to  have 
an  unduly  pious  expression. 

The  crowded  tables  were  surrounded  ^principally  by 
soldiers,  though  here  and  there  could  be  seen  a  sprink- 
ling of  civilians,  clerks  and  others.  Most  of  them  were 
eating,  not  only  as  though  their  lives  depended  upon 
the  food  taken,  but  upon  its  being  consumed  in  the 
shortest  possible  space  of  time. 

Seated  at  the  same  table  to  wdiich  Mrs.  Graeme  and 
Aliena  were  assigned,  and  just  opposite  them,  was  a 
family  party  ;  consisting  of  an  old  man,  his  wife,  daugh- 
ter and  granddaughter. 

The  old  man,  who  was  apparently  more  than  seventy 
years  of  age,  was  thin  to  emaciation  ;  with  small,  keen, 
round,  restless,  black  eyes,  that  seemed  to  have  absorbed 
all  the  vitality  left  in  his  body.  His  thin,  gray  hair  was 
carefully  arranged  over  a  high,  narrow  forehead  ;  his 
cheek  bones  had  an  unnaturally  prominent  look,  and  his 
skin  a  yellow,  deathly  pallor. 

To  the  left  of  him  sat  his  wife.  Her  white  hair  was 
smoothed  back  over  a  broad  brow,  under  a  cap  scarcely 
whiter  than  the  hair  it  covered.  Her  skin  was  compar- 
atively  white,    soft  and  un wrinkled   for  a  woman   of 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  37 

seventy ;  as  were  her  velvet_y  looking  hands.  The  unnat- 
ural whiteness  and  regularity  of  her  teeth  suggested  the 
assistance  of  a  dentist.  The  whole  expression  of  her 
face,  and  of  her  pale,  steel-blue  eye,  for  one  was  evi- 
dently sightless,  was  like  that  of  some  sister  of  mercy, 
whose  will  was  constrained  by  holy  vows. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  old  gentleman  sat  his  daughter, 
a  Avidow  by  repute,  of  about  thirty.  Her  rigidly  sleek, 
black  hair  was  arranged  in  the  prevailing  mode,  with 
broad  plaits  on  either  side  of  her  face,  carried  back 
partly  across  the  ears,  which,  despite  this  confinement, 
where  they  were  exposed  to  view  set  off  from  her  head 
in  a  particularly  alert  way.  Nature,  as  though  to  assist 
the  activity  of  her  faculties,  had  left  off  eye-lashes ; 
which  gave  her  small,  round,  quick-moving,  black  eyes 
an  uncommonly  wide-awake  look.  The  necessity,  grown 
out  of  the  want  of  lashes,  of  winking  the  eyes  fre- 
quently seemed  to  have  been  compensated  by  the 
ability  she  possessed  of  accomplishing  this  action  with 
the  most  astonishing  rapidit3\  Her  glistening  com- 
plexion was  somewhat  tawny  and  without  a  tinge  of  red  ; 
her  teeth  were  long,  Avhite  and  regular  except  the  eye 
teeth,*  which  were  sharpened,  like  a  squirrel's,  to  an 
incisive  point.  Her  thin  nose  had  a  labored,  apoplectic 
way  of  dilating  at  times  inconsonant  with  the  thinness 
of  her  person  ;  which,  as  nature  made  it,  was  wiry  and 
angular,  without  the  burden  of  superfluous  flesh  to 
hinder  the  briskness  and  activity  of  her  movements ; 
characteristics  equall}^  conspicuous  in  her  thin,  angular 
hands. 

At  her  side  sat  her  daughter,  a  scowling  child  of  about 
seven,  with  an  unnaturally  old,  unchild-like  face ;  whose 
hair,  eyes  and  complexion  were  all  of  nearly  the  same 
sallow  hue. 

These  particulars  were  not  all  noted  at  the  time  by 
either  Mrs.  Graeme  or  Aliena ;  though  there  was  little 
apparent  to  the  eye  which  this  family  failed  to  discern 
in  the  other  party. 


38  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  and  their  daughter,  Mrs. 
Skinker,  were  engaged  in  wiping  their  knives,  forks  and 
spoons  upon  the  table  cloth,  the  table  being  without 
napkins,  as  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  took  their  seats 
opposite  them.  Having  finished  this  operation  Mr. 
Bledsoe  took  up  a  dish  and  handing  it  to  his  wife,  said 
in  a  tone  of  exaggerated  politeness,  evidently  intended 
for  others : 

"My  dear,  will  you  have  some  of  this  chipped  beef? 
You  will  find  it  a  very  nice  relish.'' 

]\Irs.  Bledsoe  thanked  her  husband  with  an  air  which 
implied  that  she  felt  a  sense  of  unworthiness  of  so  great 
a  boon ;  and  slowly  helping  herself  she  rolled  her  pale, 
steel-blue  eye  heavenward,  indicating  by  her  expression 
that  she  not  only  felt  grateful  to  jNIr.  Bledsoe,  as  an 
instrument,  but  that  she  would  be  committing  a  heinous 
sin  if  she  did  not  thank  her  Heavenly  Father  for  per- 
mitting her  the  privilege  of  eating  chipped  beef. 

"  I  would  like  a  little  of  that  beef  whenever  ma  is 
done  with  it,"  Mrs.  Skinker  snapped  out,  glancing  at 
her  mother's  heavenward  look. 

]\Irs.  Bledsoe  rolled  her  eye  upward  again  with  a  look 
of  resigned  hopelessness  of  reward  in  this  world  for  her 
Christian  patience  and  forbearance  as  she  handed  the 
dish  back  to  her  husband,  who  passed  it  to  his  daugh- 
ter. Mrs.  Skinker  having  helped  herself  put  some  of 
the  beef  upon  her  child's  plate. 

"  Ma,  I  don't  want  any  of  that  beef,"  said  the  child 
scowling. 

"  You  eat  what  I  choose  to  give  you,"  said  Mrs. 
Skinker  snapping  her  eyes. 

The  child,  still  scowling,  made  no  reply;  but  watching 
her  opportunity  to  get  rid  of  the  obnoxious  article,  or, 
perhaps,  to  resist  the  Avill  of  her  mother,  she  gave  her 
plate  a  tip,  as  ]\Irs.  Skinker  turned  to  help  herself  to 
some  hot  cakes  upon  the  other  side,  emptying  the  con- 
tents upon  her  lap  or  on  tlie  floor  as  the  case  might  be. 

Mrs.  Skinker,  detecting  the  child  in  the  act,  turned 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  39 

suddenly,  and  snapping  her  eyes  viciously  gave  the 
chair  in  which  her  daughter  sat  a  sudden  jerk  backward 
which  sent  the  cliild's  chin  forward  against  the  sharpedge 
of  the  table.  And  with  a  shower  of  winks  that  seemed 
to  snap  off  in  galvanic  sparkles  from  her  eyes,  said ; 

"Arista,  go  to  my  room  and  stay  there  until  I  come." 

Suppressing  any  sign  of  emotion.  Arista  started  sud- 
denly and  hurriedly  out  of  the  room.  She  stumljled  in 
her  rage  against  a  tall,  refined  looking  gentleman  in  a 
surgeon's  uniform,  who  was  entering  the  room  at  the 
time.  He  stooped  over  her  saying  something  in  a  low 
voice. 

"  My  dear,  said  Mr.  Bledsoe  to  his  daughter,  as  Arista 
left,  "  do  let  the  child  have  her  supper." 

Deigning  only  a  look  of  indignation  at  her  father, 
Mrs.  Skinker  seemed  to  let  off  the  extra  energy  accu- 
mulated by  anger  not  exhausted  in  snapping  her  eyes 
in  snapping  at  her  food. 

The  gentleman  in  the  surgeon's  uniform  came  on  and 
approachiug  the  table,  drew  back  his  chair  to  seat  him- 
self a  little  below  jNlrs.  Bledsoe.  He  bowed  as  she 
turned  and  spoke  to  him,  with  that  grave  and  elegant 
deference  of  manner  toward  a  lady,  and  that  an  old  one, 
which  indicated  the  best  breeding. 

At  sight  of  this  gentleman  Mrs.  Skinker,  with  a  much 
improved  expression  of  countenance,  leaned  forward  and 
bowed  graciously.  Mr.  Bledsoe  broke  the  awkward 
silence  that  had  fallen  upon  their  party  by  saying  in  a 
suave  tone,  as  he  offered  the  dish  of  beef  to  Mrs.  Graeme, 
"Allow  me,  madame,  you  will  find  it  very  nice." 
This  little  speech  Avas  accompanied  by  an  interlude  of 
coughing. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  JNIrs.  Graeme,  as  she  took  the  dish 
and  helped  herself  to  a  small  portion,  though  she  would 
gladly  have  remained  unnoticed.  And,  remembering 
Mrs.  Skinker's  rebuke  to  her  mother,  she  returned  the 
dish  promptly. 

"  You  cannot  have  traveled  far  or  you  would  have  a 


40  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

better  appetite  ?  "  said  Mr.  Bledsoe  interrogatively,  as 
he  received  the  dish  from  Mrs.  Graeme,  with  a  slight 
bow  and  bland,  insinnating  smile. 

"  At  present  only  from  Montgomery,"  Mrs.  Graeme 
responded. 

''  That  is  a  beautiful  and  charming  place,"  Mr.  Bled- 
soe continued. 

*'  I  was  there  so  short  a  time  I  can  scarcely  pronounce 
upon  it." 

"  You  do  not  live  there  then  ? "  he  persisted  with 
another  little  interlude  of  hacking  cough. 

''  No,  sir,  I  was  detained  there  by  sickness,  my  home 
is  in  Vicksburg,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme  wearily. 

Ah !  I  am  ghid  of  an  opportunity  to  hear  something 
from  that  place.  It  is  the  center  of  interest  just  now," 
Mr.  Bledsoe  continued  with  renewed  zest. 

Mrs.  Graeme,  wearied  and  sick,  felt  like  groaning 
aloud  at  this  persistent  catechising,  but  constrained  by 
politeness  she  replied,  "I  really  know  nothing  more 
than  the  public  as  to  Vicksburg." 

"I  have  a  number  of  army  friends  there.  I  have 
been  engaged  in  running  the  blockade  for  the  Confed- 
eracy. Doing  Avhat  little  my  strength  permitted  for  our 
country,  furnishing  supplies  for  the  army.  My  name 
is  Bledsoe,  you  may  have  heard  of  me.  My  wife,  Mrs. 
Bledsoe,"  he  continued,  Avaving  his  hand  in  an  impres- 
sive manner  toward  his  wife,  "  and  ni}'  daughter,  ]Mrs. 
Skinker,"  he  added,  going  through  with  the  same  im- 
pressive movement  of  the  hand.  "  We  know  how  to 
feel  for  refugees.  We  have  experienced  what  it  is  to 
be  torn  from  home  and  set  adrift  among  strangers,  and 
we  would  be  happy  to  be  of  any  service  to  you." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe  in  a  most  moth- 
erly tone.  "  M}^  heart  yearns  toward  those  driven  from 
home  at  this  time.  I  know  what  it  is  to  leave  the  lux- 
uries of  home,  and  to  be  torn  from  loving  friends  to 
endure  the  sorrows  and  hardships  of  exile  for  the  sake 
of  our  suffering  land,"  and  casting  her  eye  heavenward 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  41 

and  then  resting  it  meekly  upon  her  folded  hands  she 
paused,  as  though  engaged  in  silent  prayer. 

Mrs.  Skinker  snapped  her  eyes  yiciously  at  this  mo- 
ment. It  may  have  been  at  her  mother's  silent  inyoca- 
tion,  or  it  may  haye  been,  that  leaning  forward,  she  not 
only  caught  sight  of  her  mother,  but  that  she  saw  a 
pair  of  intense  eyes  resting  in  sympathetic  glance  for  a 
moment  upon  the  two  ladies  opposite.  Following  their 
direction  with  her  own  eyes  they  assumed  a  hopelessly 
unforgiying  expression,  as  she  was  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge to  herself  that  Aliena  was  beautiful,  young  and 
patrician  in  appearance. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  you  if  you  expect  to  remain  in  this 
place,"  she  said  spitefully  rather  than  sympathetically, 
addressing  Aliena. 

'•  We  are  only  passing  through,"  Aliena  replied  in  a 
low,  musical  yoice  ;  the  tones  of  which  j)robably  reached 
the  ears  of  the  gentleman  beyond  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  as  he 
again  raised  his  eyes  for  an  instant  to  her. 

Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  now  rose,  almost  supperless, 
from  the  uninyiting  table,  gladly  escaping  to  their  own 
rooms. 

''  I  am  not  feeling  well  to-night,  daughter.  I  must 
lie  down,  but  don't  let  me  keep  you  here,  if  you  can 
find  it  pleasanter  elsewhere,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme  wearily. 

''  Xo  place  could  be  pleasant  without  you,  mother," 
Aliena  replied,  looking  lovingly  and  anxiously  at  the 
pale,  worn  face  before  her ;  and  putting  aside  Mauma's 
proffered  assistance  to  her  mother  in  getting  ready  for 
bed,  she  rendered  that  service  herself.  The  thought 
flashing  painfully  through  her  mind,  what  a  weary 
world  this  would  be  without  a  mother's  love. 

Aliena  sat  beside  her  mother's  bed  smoothing  back  the 
soft,  brown  hair  from  her  feverish  forehead  with  the  light 
magnetic  touch  of  her  cool,  caressing  fingers,  until  Mrs. 
Graeme  insisted  upon  her  retiring  for  the  night.  And 
kissing  the  feverish  brow  Aliena  said  good-night,  and 
went  to  her  room,  which  opened  into  her  mother's. 


42  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

"  She  still  took  note  that  when  the  living  smile 
Died  from  his  lips,  across  him  came  a  cloud 
Of  melancholy  severe,  from  wliich  again, 
Whenever  in  her  liovering  to  and  fro 
The  lily  maid  had  striven  to  make  him  cheer, 
There  brake  a  sudden  beaming  tenderness 
Of  mauneis  and  of  nature." 

Tennyson  :  Idyls  of  a  King. 

At  sunrise  .he  following  morning  when  Manma  came 
to  awaken  Mrs.  Graeme,  preparatory  to  resuming  their 
journey,  she  found  her  tossing  with  fever,  as  she  had 
done  all  night.  Mrs.  Graeme,  aghast  at  the  thought  of 
being  detained  sick  in  this  place,  insisted  upon  making 
the  effort  to  rise,  but  she  sank  back  in  bed  almost 
fainting. 

Aliena  was  not  less  pained  than  her  mother  at  this 
detention,  though  that  thought  was  as  nothing  compared 
with  her  anxiety  as  to  her  mother's  illness.  But  endeav- 
oring to  assume  a  cheerfulness  she  was  far  from  feeling, 
she  said,  "  You  will  soon  be  well  I  hope,  mother,  and  a 
day  or  two  here' will  not  be  so  bad,  if  you  will  only  try 
to  get  well,"  and  she  kissed  her  mother's  brow  lovingly. 

Aliena  insisted  upon  sending  at  once  for  a  physician, 
and  Mauma  was  sent  to  make  inquir}^  concerning  one. 
She  soon  returned  with  the  information  that  there  was 
a  distinguished  Confederate  surgeon  in  the  house,  whose 
services  might  possibly  be  secured,  for  wdiom  she  was 
immediately  despatched. 

Aliena  recognized  at  once,  in  the  tall,  quietly  elegant, 
intellectual  looking  gentleman  who  was  soon  ushered 
into  her  mother's  room,  the  possessor  of  the  intense 
eyes  whose  sympathetic  glance  had  met  her's  the  even- 
ing before  at  the  supper  table. 

As  Dr.  Leigh  entered  the  room  with  that  grave,  calm 
air  of  self-possession,  he  might  have  been  thought  to  be 
more  than  thirty  years  old,  though  when  his  face  lit  up. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  43 

as  it  did  at  times,  with  his  rare  smile,  which  seemed  to 
break  like  sunshine  over  his  whole  face,  he  appeared 
much  younger. 

Greeting  Aliena  with  quiet  ease,  he  moved  to  where 
Mrs.  Graeme  la}^,  and  took  her  white,  limp  hand  for  a 
moment  in  his.  Asking  but  few  questions,  he  appar- 
ently took  in  at  a  glance  at  the  sad,  suffering  face  before 
him,  the  state  of  the  case.  Seating  himself  for  a  few 
moments  in  conversation  with  Mrs.  Graeme,  he  rose, 
gave  the  necessary  directions,  and  bowing,  left  the  room. 
Aliena's  anxious  eyes  followed  him  wistfully,  and  un- 
willing to  be  left  thus  in  doubt,  hoping  that  he  might 
by  word  or  look  alleviate  her  anxiety  at  the  appre- 
hended illness  of  her  mother,  she  Avalked  on  after  him 
.into  the  hall. 

Dr.  Leigh,  hearing  her  footsteps,  turned  and  awaited 
her  approach.  She  looked  anxiously  into  his  face  for  a 
moment,  hesitating  to  ask,  but  said  at  length,  "  Dr. 
Leigh,  mother  is  not  ill,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  No,  she  is  not  ill,"  he  said,  looking  into  her  sorrow- 
ful eyes  as  though  desirous  of  sparing  her  pain. 

'-'-  bo  you  think  she  will  be  able  to  travel  in  a  few 
days?"  she  continued,  impelled  by  the  painful  anxiety 
which  Dr.  Leigh's  cautious  answer  had  increased. 

"  I  shall  do  everytliing  in  my  power  to  have  her  well 
as  soon  as  possible,"  he  said,  and  looking  at  the  troubled 
face  before  him,  he  added :  "  The  strong  point  in  treat- 
ment must  be,  I  think,  the  keeping  your  mother  as 
calm  and  cheerful  as  possible,  otherwise  I  cannot 
promise  that  she  will  be  up  for  many  days." 

Aliena  felt  keenly  this  constructive  rebuke,  and  her 
mind  running  quickly  and  painfully  over  not  only  her 
present  trouble  but  the  many  others  she  was  trying  to 
bear  silently  for  her  mother's  sake,  the  sensitive  nerves 
about  her  mobile  mouth  quivered,  and  her  voice  faltered 
as  she  answered  as  simply  as  a  chided  child,  "  I  do  try 
to  look  cheerful,"  and  two  big  tears  she  could  not  re- 
strain rolled  from  under  the  long;  lashes  over  her  Avhite 


44  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

cheeks.     She  brushed  them  away  quickly,  but  not  before 
they  had  been  seen. 

"Pardon  me  if  I  seemed  unkind,  but  that  your 
mother's  condition  is  the  result  of  mental  rather  than 
of  physical  causes  must  be  my  apology,"  said  Dr.  Leigh 
in  that  low,  clear,  self-sustained,  yet  sympathetic,  voice  ; 
which,  as  much  as  his  appearance,  indicated  culture, 
refinement,  and  firmness  of  purpose  ;  and  bowing  he 
left  her. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"  And  having  both  together  heaved  it  up 
We  '11  both  together  lift  our  heads  to  heaven  ; 
And  never  more  abase  our  sight  so  low 
As  to  vouchsafe  one  glance  unto  the  ground." 

Shakspeare :  Hexrt  VL 

Mrs.  Skinker,  managed  to  ply  Mauma  with  questions, 
who,  not  above  the  amiable  weakness  of  family  servants 
generally,  enlarged  upon  wliatever  facts  she  thought 
calculated  to  swell  the  importance  of  her  mistress  in  the 
eyes  of  strangers.  ]Mrs.  Skinker  consequently  thought 
it  worth  the  while  to  proffer  her  services  in  the  sick 
room  and  dropped  in  as  if  by  the  merest  chance,  when 
Dr.  Leigh  was  there,  bringing  some  little  delicacy 
secured  through  the  steward.  She  generally  managed 
to  keep  upon  terms  with  such  parties. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe  also  gained  access  to  Mrs.  Graeme's 
room,  where  she  lay  suffering  more  in  mind  than  in 
body,  and,  taking  the  feverish  hand  between  her  own 
cool,  velvety  ones,  stroked  it  affectionately ;  asking  in 
motherly  tones  the  privilege  of  doing  something  to 
alleviate  her  suffering.  Giving  Mrs.  Graeme  to  under- 
stand that  she  would  feel  aggrieved  if  deprived  of  this 
opportunity  for  good  work,  she  cast  her  eye  heaven- 
ward in  benediction  when  leaving.     Even  Mr.  Bledsoe 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  45 

tapped  softly  at  the  door  of  the  sick-room  with  kind 
words  of  inquiry,  or  left  a  flower  as  a  token  of  sympathy. 

Mrs.  Skinker,  who  had  timed  Dr.  Leigh's  visit  to  Mrs. 
Graeme  one  evening,  awaited  him  in  her  little  so-called 
parlor,  intending  to  waylay  him  in  passing,  as  he  was 
obliged  to  do.  Here  a  lounge  had  been  substituted  for 
a  bedstead,  for  jNlrs.  Skinker's  accommodation.  Arista 
having  been  crowded  into  the  room  with  her  grand- 
parents, and  some  other  additional  furniture  secured 
through  the  chambermaid,  who,  for  a  trifle,  had  been 
induced  to  denude  other  apartments  for  this  purpose, 
thus  enabling  Mrs.  Skinker  cheaply  to  indulge  in  the 
luxury  of  a  private  reception  room. 

She  was  enticingly  arrayed  upon  this  occasion,  though 
somehow  the  scarlet  bows  with  which  she  had  adorned 
herself  at  her  throat  and  upon  the  top  of  her  head  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  a  crowing  hen.  To  while  away  the 
time  she  was  reading  a  sensational,  yellow-backed  novel. 
But  hearing  Dr.  Leigh's  footsteps  in  the  hall  she  quickly 
substituted  a  small  volume  of  poetry  for  the  novel, 
which  went  into  retirement  under  the  lounge  cover,  and 
rising  walked  to  the  door,  holding  the  volume  of  poetry 
in  her  hand,  with  her  finger  between  the  lids  as  though 
suddenly  disturbed  in  reading  it. 

"Doctor,  how  is  dear  Mrs.  Graeme?"  she  said  as  he 
approached.    "  I  have  been  feeling  so  anxious  about  her." 

"  She  is  still  very  ill.  I  cannot  see  that  she  is  improv- 
ing," he  replied. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  it,"  said  i\Irs.  Skinker,  and 
heaving  a  mechanical  sigh  she  continued,  ''Is  n't  she  a 
charming  lady?"  And  don't  you  think  Miss  Graeme 
beautiful  ?  " 

"  They  are  very  elegant  ladies." 

"  Don't  you  think  Miss  Graeme  is  a  beauty  ?  "  Mrs. 
Skinker  reiterated. 

"  Beauty  is  a  relative  term,"  Dr.  Leigh  said  vaguely. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that  ? "  persisted 
Mrs.  Skinker  interrogatively,  but  as  Dr.  Leigh  showed 


46  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

no  disposition  to  enlighten  her  she  continued,  "  It  seems 
strange  they  should  be  traveling  without  a  protector  as 
they  are  doing." 

Dr.  Leigh,  apparently  gazing  into  vacancy,  was  think- 
ing that  it  was  scarcely  possible  that  such  ladies  could 
ever  be  without  a  protector,  but  said  nothing.  Mrs. 
Skinker,  more  than  ever  determined  to  get  an  expression 
of  opinion  from  him,  continued: 

"  Do  you  think  it  is  proper  for  ladies  to  travel  alone  ? 
It  seems  strange  that  they  could  not  have  found  some 
one  to  take  charge  of  them,  though  pa  says  he  never 
met  them  in  society  in  Vicksburg." 

"  I  imagine  they  chose  not  to  go  into  society,"  said 
Dr.  Leigh  with  a  tone  of  hardness  in  his  voice,  Avhich 
Mrs.  Skinker  seemed  to  understand  too  well  to  continue 
the  subject  though  she  snapped  her  eyes  rather  viciously 
for  the  first  time  during  the  interview. 

But  changing  the  subject  she  said  with  a  forced  smile 
of  affability : 

'•  This  is  such  a  sweet  book,  I  have  been  reading 
Lucille,  I  suppose  you  have  seen  it.  Won't  you  come 
in  ?  I  want  to  show  you  a  passage  that  I  think  beau- 
tiful," she  said,  opening  at  the  passage  which  she  had 
selected  for  this  occasion. 

''I  have  never  read  it,  but  excuse  me  this  evening  if 
you  please." 

"Just  read  this  one  little  piece,"  she  persisted,  rather 
thrusting  it  upon  him. 

Dr.  Leigh  took  the  book  and  proceeded  to  read,  Mrs. 
Skinker  moving  close  to  his  side.  The  sense  of  her 
nearness  produced  such  a  feeling  of  repulsion  that  Dr. 
Leigh  could  scarcely  take  in  an}'  other  thought,  and  he 
quickly  returned  the  book,  expressing  himself  vaguely, 
at  random.  Arista  running  into  the  room  interruj)ted 
them  at  this  moment,  saying,  "  Ma,  can't  I  have  some 
candy  ?  " 

"  No,  you  can't  have  any  now.  Go  to  your  grand- 
mother's room,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker  curtly. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  47 

"I'll  go  there  and  I  won't  come  back  any  more  until 
Dr.  Leigh  is  gone  if  you  'II  give  me  some  candy,"  said 
Arista. 

The  telegraphic  lines  about  Mrs.  Skinker's  eyes  were 
put  in  rapid  motion  by  this  speech,  but  Mrs.  Bledsoe's 
t'utering  proved  an  agreeable  diversion.  Arista  tak- 
ing advantage  of  her  opportunity,  prowling  stealthily 
about  the  room,  discovered  the  paper  of  candy  protrud- 
ing from  its  hiding  place  behind  the  old-fashioned  mirror 
upon  the  mantle.  Giving  it  a  pull  the  impetus  was  too 
great,  and  the  candy  came  with  a  rattle,  as  of  hailstones, 
pell-mell  over  the  floor. 

Fortunately  for  Mrs.  Skinker  her  back  was  toward 
Dr.  Leigh  as  she  confronted  Arista.  Her  countenance 
would  not  have  been  conducive  to  the  furtherance  of 
any  schemes  she  might  have  had  in  reference  to  that 
gentleman.  Under  cover  of  Mrs.  Bledsoe's  anxious 
inquiries  as  to  the  health  of  Dr.  Leigh  she  said  in  a 
hissing  under-tone : 

'^Arista,  did  n't  I  tell  you  to  go  to  your  grandmother's 
room  ?     Go  there  and  stay  until  I  come." 

Arista  did  net  dare  to  remain  when  her  mother  spoke 
in  that  tone,  with  the  snapping  accompaniment  going 
on  with  her  ej'es ;  and  rising  from  where  she  was  gath- 
ering up  the  candy  she  sullenly  left  the  room.  Dr.  Leigli 
succeeded  in  releasing  his  hand  at  length  from  the  feline 
caresses  of  the  old  lady  and,  saying  good  evening,  left. 

He  walked  on  down  the  dimly  lighted  hall  and  turned 
into  the  still  darker  side  hall  to  descend  the  steps,  and 
upon  the  stairway  he  stumbled  against  a  soft  heap,  which 
proved  to  be  Arista. 

''Why,  Arista,  what  are  3'ou  doing  here  alone  in  the 
dark?  I  hope  I  did  not  hurt  you?"  he  said  as  the 
child  commenced  to  sob,  in  the  revulsion  from  the  sullen, 
fierce  wrath  she  had  been  cherishing,  overcome  by  the 
tenderness  of  Dr.  Leigh's  tone  and  manner,  a  tenderness 
to  which  she  was  so  unaccustomed. 

"  I  just  hate  ma  ! ''  she  gasped  out,  relapsing  into  rage. 


48  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"Don't  talk  that  way,"  Dr.  Leigh  said  in  a  voice  as 
much  of  sympathy  as  of  rebuke. 

"  Well,  I  do  hate  her  !  And  I  wish  I  was  dead — I  do 
— I  just  wish  I  was  dead." 

'^Arista?  Arista?  "  Mrs.  Skinker's  voice  was  heard 
calling  in  tones  much  less  pleasing  than  those  to  which 
Dr.  Leigh  was  accustomed  from  her,  though  they  were 
none  of  the  sweetest  at  best. 

The  child  cowered  under  the  sound  as  though  it  had 
been  a  blow,  but  she  moved  slowly  back  to  certain 
punishment. 


CHAPTER  X. 

"Art  thou  awakened  from  a  dream,  and  is 
The  fair  delusion  suddenly  dissolved  ?  " 

Goethe  .•  Torquato  Tasso. 

One  of  the  first  duties  to  which  Aliena  attended  after 
her  detention  in  Chattanooga,  if  so  cold  a  word  as  duty 
is  allowable,  was  to  write  to  ^lajor  Baron.  Words 
tremblingly  chosen,  "like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of 
silver." 

Major  Baron  had  mounted  his  horse  for  a  ride  with 
Lilian  Selwyn  when  Aliena's  tender  missive  was  handed 
him.  He  recognized  the  graceful,  flowing  hand,  but 
before  he  opened  it  he  took  out  his  watch,  and  seeing 
that  it  was  time  for  the  ride  he  consigned  the  letter  to 
his  pocket  for  future  delectation.  And  spurring  liis 
horse  he  was  soon  with  Lilian,  going  over,  perhaps,  the 
same  ground  over  which  he  had  ridden  with  Aliena. 

He  returned  from  the  ride  too  much  fascinated  to 
resign  a  twilight  tete-a-tete  upon  the  gallery  with  Lilian 
for  camp  duty,  and  accepted  her  invitation  to  remain. 
He  had  opportunity  while  she  was  exchanging  her 
dark  riding  habit  for  a  soft,  transparent  white  muslin 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  49 

with  the  pale  l)lue  ribbons,  which  caught  loosely  back 
her  golden  curls,  to  have  read  Aliena's  letter.  But  with 
sorrow  be  it  confessed,  he  had  forgotten  it.  And  that 
poor  little  missive,  if  it  could  have  had  ears  to  hear,  or 
a  heart  to  feel,  how  the  little  thing  would  have  trembled 
and  fluttered  and  thumped  against  his  heart  where  it  lay, 
while  his  beat  calmly  on  without  the  quickening  of  a 
pulsation ;  at  least  by  what  lay  near  it. 

Happy,  fortunate  Eve,  to  whom  was  first  whispered 
vows  of  love — in  that  there  was  no  other  woman  to  whom 
they  could  be  whispered. 

And  the  stars  peeped  out,  and  pale,  faithless  Luna 
looked  coldly  down  upon  them.  And  a  little  later  the 
tender  missive  that  la}^  above  Major  Baron's  heart 
might,  for  some  reason,  have  been  heard  to  utter  a  faint 
out-cry  as  he  was  saying  good-night. 

So  days  went  on.  jNlajor  Baron's  camp  duties  were 
now  more  rigidly  enforced,  yet  he  did  not  fail  to  find, 
time  for  relaxation,  to  which  the  reader  has  some  clew. 
Not  neglecting  graceful  letters — letters  full  of  vows — 
of  these  he  was  not  niggardly. 

Aliena's  replies  were  delicate  but  trustful ;  the  full- 
ness of  her  heart  cropping  out  in  true  womanly  fashion. 

People  in  love  are  wonderfully  interesting,  not  only 
to  each  other  but  to  the  world  in  general  if  it  can  only 
pry  into  their  secret  hearts,  listen  to  their  vows  of  love, 
know  of  their  hopes  and  fears,  their  bliss  and  woes. 

Love  is  that  fabled  fountain  of  perpetual  youth,  from 
which  if  one  be  barred  the  next  most  interesting  thing 
is  to  take  a  position  commanding  the  fountain  and 
watch  the  pilgrims  from  the  whole  earth  coming,  more 
eager  to  drink  of  its  Xethean  water  than  those  other 
pilgrims  to  be  dipped  into  the  fountain  that  "  the  angel 
came  down  at  certain  seasons  to  trouble."  Nor  is  the 
transformation  at  times  less  marvelous  ;  the  moral  lep- 
rosies cured,  the  blooming  out  into  perfect  manhood  or 
womanhood.  His  must  be  a  gross  nature  indeed  that 
is  not  purified  by  its  waters. 

4 


60  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Day  after  day  passed  and  JNIrs.  Graeme  still  lay  there 
prostrated  by  low,  wasting  fever,  without  apparent  de- 
sire to  live,  or  recuperative  energy  to  overcome  disease. 
Dr.  Leigh  ceuld  not  but  be  impressed  by  the  refinement 
and  culture  of  the  two  ladies  thrown  as  by  chance  upon 
his  care,  and  he  came  to  ministering  to  them,  not  only 
as  a  physician,  but  as  a  friend.  He  endeavored  to  cheer 
both  the  patient  and  the  tender,  untiring  nurse,  by 
bringing  flowers,  reminders  of  sunshine,  fruit  to  tempt 
an  appetite  he  could  not  restore,  or  books,  which,  if 
they  could  not  bring  forgetfulness,  might  brighten  the 
lonely  hours  of  self-forgetful  watching  with  Avhich 
Aliena  unceasingly  tended  her  mother. 

In  the  long  intervals  of  stillness  in  the  sick  room 
Aliena  not  only  essayed  to  read,  to  quiet  her  mother's 
anxi'ety  in  regard  to  herself,  but  she  endeavored  to  con- 
strain her  mind  to  the  thoughtful  reading  of  the  books 
brought  by  Dr.  Leigh,  that  she  might  discuss  them  in- 
telligently with  him.  She  soon  found  that  no  super- 
ficial reading  would  enable  her  to  do  this  with  one  who 
not  only  absorbed  the  thoughts  the  book  contained,  but 
adorned  them  as  Murillo  did  his  Madonnas  with  myriad 
angelic  after  thoughts. 

In  these  discussions  Dr.  Leigh  sometimes  lost  that 
grave,  preoccupied  look  his  face  usually  wore,  and  at 
times  it  lighted  up  with  an  enthusiasm  which  seemed  to 
transfigure  it. 

On  more  than  one  occasion  Dr.  Leigh  found  Aliena 
reading  to  her  mother  in  soft,  low  tones  wdiich  soothed 
and  tranquilized  by  the  lulling  sound,  if  not  by  the 
.sense  conveyed.  He  was  loth  to  disturb  her  when  thus 
engaged.  Her  voice  had  a  peculiar  charm  for  him — the 
soft  waves  of  sound  fell  soothingly  upon  his  ear  like  the 
echo  of  some  sweet,  forgotten  melody.  And  as  she 
moved  quietly  and  gracefully  around,  lovingly  minister- 
ing to  her  mother,  his  eyes  unconsciously  followed  her, 
and  he  found  himself  silently  studying  her  expressive 
face,  her  beautiful,   sensitive  mouth,   and  her   tender, 


THE  FEET  OF  GLA  T.  51 

fathomless  eyes ;  over  which  hung  a  sadness  which  he 
felt  was  not  altogether  the  result  of  her  present  appre- 
hensions in  regard  to  her  mother's  illness. 

There  came  to  him,  too,  at  times,  a  vague  feeling  as 
of  an  impossible  memory  of  Aliena,  as  though  in  some 
strange  responsive  way  she  had  always  formed  a  part  of 
his  life. 


CHAPTER  XL 

"  And  beaming  tenderly  with  looks  of  love 
Climb  not  the  everlasting  stars  on  high  ? 
Are  Ave  not  gazing  into  each  other's  eyes  1 
Nature's  impenetrable  agencies. 
Are  they  not  thronging  on  thy  heart  and  brain 
Viewless,  or  visible  to  mortal  ken,^ 
Around  thee  weaving  their  mysterious  reign  ? 
Then  call  it  what  thou  wilt.     Bliss !  Heart !  Love  !  God  ! " 

Goethe  :  Faust. 

Dr.  Lei«-h,  leaving  Mrs.  Graeme's  room  at  a  late  hour 
one  evening,  said  to  Aliena :  "  The  indications,  as  to 
your  mother's  illness,  are,  I  think  more  favorable.  If 
she  can  get  a  good  night's  rest  I  hope  the  crisis  shall 
have  past  and  that  I  may  be  able  to  pronounce  her  con- 
valescent in  the  morning.  I  iTeed  not  caution  you  to  be 
careful,  as  I  know  that  everything  possible  will  be  done." 

Mauma  moved  noiselessly  around  after  Dr.  Leigh  left, 
arranging  everything  for  ]\irs.  Graeme's  comfort  during 
the  mgh't ;  having  done  this,  she  went  to  where  Aliena 
was  seated  lying  languidly  back  in  an  easy  chair,  and 
said  in  a  low  tone,  "  Honey  you  go  and  lie  down  now 
and  get  some  rest,  if  mistress  wants  you  I  '11  be  sure  to 
call  you.  You  are  looking  most  like  a  ghost,  and  if 
you  don't  take  care  you  '11  be  gettin  sick  in  this  dread- 
ful place."  .  1     „       -J 

'^   could  not  possibly  leave  mother  to-night,     said 

Aliena  firmly. 


BH  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  I  should  think  I  could  do  everything  for  mistress. 
I  've  done  it  before  you  was  born  into  the  world,"  said 
Mauma,  evidently  a  little  hurt. 

"  Of  course  you  could,  Mauma.  I  am  not  afraid  to 
trust  mother  to  you,  but  it  is  not  necessary  for  both  to 
be  up.  You  know  you  have  been  untiring  in  nursing 
her,  and  you  need  rest  yourself.  Remember  you  are 
not  as  young  as  you  were  when  I  was  a  baby.  Go  on 
to  bed,  and  I  will  call  you  if  anything  hap^^ens,"  said 
Aliena  with  a  faint  effort  at  a  smile. 

"  Well,  be  sure  and  wake  me  up  if  you  want  any- 
thing, honey,  you  know  I  could  easy  set  here  in  this 
chair  and  get  all  the  sleep  I  want." 

"-  Thank  you,  Mauma,  I  '11  be  sure  to  send  for  you  if 
I  need  .you." 

''  Well,  I  hope  mistress  will  be  better  in  the  morning. 
Good  night,  honey.  God  bless  3"ou  and  mistress,"  and 
with  lier  usual  courtesy  Mauma  left  the  room. 

Aliena,  left  to  herself,  felt  more  depressed  than  she 
had  been  willing  to  acknowledge,  but  moving  to  the 
door  opening  into  the  hall  she  locked  it,  and  Avent  into 
her  own  room  to  make  herself  more  comfortable  for  the 
night's  Avatching  before  her.  As  the  night  Avas  warm 
she  laid  aside  her  black  dress,  putting  on  a  white  rohe-de- 
chamhre^  dainty  with  lace  and  embroidery ;  and  loosen- 
ing her  hair  let  it  fall  in  masses  of  rippling  Avaves  around 
her.  Returning  to  the  sick  room  she  seated  herself 
again  by  the  table  Avhere  stood  the  light,  shaded  from 
her  mother's  eyes,  and  took  up  the  Avatch  to  note  the 
time.  But  seeing  that  her  mother  Avas  restless,  and 
fearing  that  even  these  slight  movements  disturbed  her, 
Aliena  took  a  book  from  the  table  to  make  her  Avatch- 
ing  seem  more  natural,  and  rested  back  in  the  chair 
apparently  reading,  to  lull  her  mother's  anxiety  in 
regard  to  her. 

It  Avas  only  a  form,  her  mind  was  busy  revolving  the 
painful  contingencies  that  hung  upon  this  night  in  the 
crisis  through  Avhich  she  kncAV  her  mother  Avas  passing. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  53 

She  glanced  up  occasionally,  to  see  if  her  mother  was 
sleeping,  still  seeing  the  restless  wide-open  eyes.  They 
closed  at  length,  opening  at  the  slightest  sound,  but 
after  an  interminable  time,  as  it  seemed  to  Aliena,  to 
her  intense  relief,  she  heard  the  low,  regular,  though 
feeble  breathing,  which  to  her  acutely  listening  ears 
betokened  sleqj.  She  drew  a  long  breath  of  relieved 
anxiety,  though  almost  afraid  to  breathe  even  for  fear 
of  disturbing  the  prayed-for  sleep,  which  alone  she  knew 
could  restore  her  mother. 

The  house  was  still  and  silent  now  *  every  one  seemed 
to  have  retired  for  the  night.  And  Aliena,  dropping 
the  book  to  her  lap,  prayed  in  her  inmost  heart  that  her 
mother's  life  miglit  be  spared.  Her  thoughts  reverted 
to  another  life  imperiled  by  shot  and  shell.  She 
thought  of  the  past,  of  all  the  dim,  uncertain  future  be- 
fore her.  It  may  have  been  for  hours  that  she  sat  thus, 
her  hands  clasped  in  her  lap  over  her  scarcely  whiter 
robe,  disclosing  by  their  fixed  grasp  the  nervous  tension 
of  her  mind  as  she  kept  anxious  weary  watch. 

The  sound  of  footsteps  in  the  hall  struck  painfully 
upon  her  acute  hearing,  causing  her  hands  to  tighten 
in  their  clasp — but  she  felt  a  sense  of  satisfaction  as 
slie  recognized  Dr.  Leigh's  firm,  yet  elastic  step  going 
to  his  room  beyond.  He  had  been  detained  at  the 
hospital. 

Mrs.  Graeme,  awakened  by  the  sound,  said  feebly, 
"Daughter,  what  time  is  it?" 

Aliena  looking  at  the  watch,  said  softly,  but  in  the 
cheerful  tone  she  always  tried  to  assume  in  the  sick 
room,  "  It  is  a  few  minutes  after  one.  It  is  time  you 
were  taking  your  draught." 

"  Give  it  to  me,  and  come  and  lie  here  by  me,  daughter. 
It  seems  to  me  I  could  sleep  if  you  were  here  by  my 
side,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme,  unconscious  of  having  slept  at 
all.  Having  taken  the  draught,  and  seeing  the  traces 
of  anxiety  in  Aliena's  face,  she  continued  feebly,  "I  am 
feeling  better  to-night,  daughter." 


54  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

"  I  am  so  thanHul,"  said  Aliena,  leaning  over  and 
pressing  her  lips  to  the  white  brow  before  her. 

"  Lie  down  hj  me  now,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme. 

Aliena  thinking  it  best  to  indulge  her  mother's  wish, 
lay  down  by  her  side,  with  no  intention  however  of 
sleeping.  But  soon  her  apprehensions  were  again 
relieved  by  hearing  the  low,  regular  breathing;  and 
exh^iusted  by  the  many  weary  nights  of  watching,  re- 
lieved by  her  mother's  resting,  and  lulled  by  the  still- 
ness, she  unconsciously  dropped  asleep.  She  awoke 
with  a  nervous,  gmlty  start  at  having  been  thus  over- 
come, hearing  at  the  same  time,  the  sound,  as  she 
thought,  of  the  bolt  turned  with  a  click  in  the  lock. 
But  listening  she  heard  nothing.  And  finding  to  her 
relief  that  her  starting  had  not  awakened  her  mother, 
she  concluded  that  it  must  have  been  a  dream.  Deter- 
mined not  to  sleep  again,  she  lay  with  her  eyes  wide 
open,  afraid  to  move  lest  nlie  might  awaken  her  mother. 
But  the  relief  that  hope  had  given,  and  the  exhaustion 
from  her  long  continued  anxiety  and  watching,  at  length 
again  overcame  her.  Unwittingly,  the  long  lashes 
drooped,  and  lay  upon  the  white  cheeks — and  she  slept. 

Suddenly  Aliena  was  again  startled  to  consciousness 
by  creaking  sounds  as  of  footsteps  upon  the  floor.  She 
opened  her  eyes.  Her  heart  leaped  to  her  throat  as 
through  the  door  from  her  room  came  a  man,  stealthily 
approaching.  He  hesitated  at  the  sound  his  footsteps 
had  produced,  then  came  stealing  on  into  the  room. 
Paralyzed  by  fear  she  lay  perfectly  still,  scarcely  breath- 
ing. The  man  moved  on  towards  the  table  upon  Avhich 
lay  her  watch,  set  with  brilliants,  and  put  out  his  hand 
to  take  it.  The  light  shaded  from  the  bed  fell  full  upon 
him. 

In  this  short  interval  of  time,  as  when  one  is  drown- 
ing, myriad  thoughts  passed  through  Aliena's  mind, 
but  her  mother's  critical  condition  held  precedence  over 
everything  else,  even  her  sense  of  personal,, danger.  Re- 
membering Dr.  Leigh's  injunction,  she  made  no  outcry. 


THE  FEET  OF  CZA  T.  55 

Sliding  softly  from  the  bed,  she  put  her  hand  upon 
the  bell  pull.     It  gave  in  her  hand. 

The  man's  face  turned  full  upon  her  at  this  moment, 
paralyzing  motion.  In  her  agonizing  fear  that  instant 
seemed  unending;  but,  grasping  the  watch,  the  man 
turned  and  fled  from  the  room  as  stealthily  as  he  had 
come.  Clutching  the  bell  cord  she  essayed  again  to 
ring.  The  wire  had  been  cut.  She  waited  in  an  agony 
of  uncertainty  and  trepidation,  fearing  the  man's  return, 
feeling  as  though  ages  passed  in  the  dread  of  his  re- 
appearance. 

Suddenly  the  thought  of  Dr.  Leigh  came  to  her 
mind.  Gliding,  in  terrified  apprehension,  softly  into 
the  hall,  fearing  lest  she  should  encounter  the  man, 
and  in  agonized  dread  of  his  re-entering  her  mother's 
room  in  her  absence,  she  sped  on  to  Dr.  Leigh's  door 
and  gave  a  quick  rap. 

He  was  sitting  reading,  though  it  was  past  two 
o'clock.  Apprehensive  as  to  Mrs.  Graeme,  the  thought 
of  her  came  instantly  to  his  mind.  He  moved  quickly 
to  the  door;  and  opening  it,  Aliena's  white,  terror- 
stricken  face  met  his  view. 

''  Come" — she  gasped,  sinking  to  the  floor  before,  in 
surprise,  he  could  prevent  it. 

Astonished  and  shocked,  he  stooped  and  raised  the 
insensible  girl  in  his  arms.  His  first  impulse  was  to 
take  her  into  his  room  ;  but  thinking  again  he  bore  her 
on  to  her  own  room,  the  door  of  which  was  standing  wide 
open.  Here  laving  her  upon  the  bed  he  sprinkled  water 
in  her  face.  With  a  quick  gasp  and  a  long  drawn  inspi- 
ration she  opened  her  bewildered  eyes.  The  look  of 
terror  that  came  back  into  her  face,  alarmed  Dr.  Leigh 
by  its  intensity.  Thinking  at  once  that  something 
fatal  had  happened  to  Mrs.  Graeme,  he  moved  to  the 
door  opening  between  the  rooms.  Here  he  saw  her 
lying  so  death-like  that  he  concluded  she  must  have 
died  suddenly.  Returning  to  Aliena,  his  face  full  of 
the  intense  sympathy  he  felt,  she  caught  the  expression. 


56  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

and,  starting  up  wildly,  tottered  to  her  mother's  room, 
followed  by  Dr.  Leigh. 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Graeme  awoke.  Fortunately 
Aliena's  face  was  in  the  shadow.  Mrs.  Graeme  asked 
quietly,  "  What  time  is  it?"  Aliena  sank  into  a  chair 
and  Dr.  Leigh  answered  quickly,  though  in  a  low  tone, 
to  anticipate  Aliena,  "  It  is  early,  but  I  thought  I  would 
come  and  see  how  you  had  eiept." 

''  I  slept  very  well  all  night.  I  feel  better  this  morn- 
ing." Mrs.  Graeme  res2:)onded  with  an  invalid's  uncon- 
sciousness of  time. 

''  Go  to  sleep  again,  that  is  the  best  thing  for  you," 
said  Dr.  Leigh,  and  seating  himself  by  the  table  he  took 
up  the  book  Aliena  had  laid  down,  and  assumed  to  be 
reading. 

His  eyes  could  not  but  wander  to  the  pale  face  before 
him,  upon  which  the  impress  of  terror  still  lingered, 
deepening  painfully  at  times,  as  her  mind  dwelt  upon 
the  scene  of  terror  through  which  she  had  just  passed. 

Perceiving  at  length  that  Mrs.  Graeme  again  slept. 
Dr.  Leigh  asked  in  a  low  tone,  "What  was  it  that 
alarmed  you  ?  " 

'^A  robber,"  Aliena  whispered,  glancing  at  the  door 
open  between  the  rooms,  the  look  of  terror  coming  start- 
lingly  back  to  her  face.  Fearing  to  awaken  Mrs. 
Graeme,  nothing  more  was  said  for  some  time.  Dr. 
Leigh,  seeing  Aliena's  face  grow  even  paler,  if  possible, 
said  at  length, 

''  You  must  lie  down." 

"  I  cannot,"  she  said,  glancing  again  with  terror  at 
the  open  door. 

"  I  will  sit  here  and  watch.  You  must  rest,"  said 
Dr.  Leigh,  in  something  of  a  peremptory  tone. 

''  Is  n't  the  door  of  my  room  open  ?  "  asked  Aliena, 
feeling  that  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  summons  the 
strength  and  courage  to  see  for  herself. 

"  I  will  see,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  rising  and  moving  noise- 
lessly into  Aliena's  room,  scarcely  glancing  around  at 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  57 

what  he  felt  to  be  sacred  ground.  Here,  even  in  this 
uninviting  hotel,  Aliena  had  environed  herself  with  an 
air  of  taste,  a  sort  of  fragrance  permeating  the  room. 
Locking  the  outside  door  Dr.  Leigh  returned,  and  see- 
ing from  Aliena's  face  her  continued  apprehension,  he 
said  to  her,  "Lie  down  there  on  the  lounge,"'  motioning  to 
one  in  the  room.     "  You  must  rest  if  3-ou  cannot  sleep." 

Aliena,  scarcely  able  to  sit  up,  felt  the  necessity 
herself  for  rest.  And  rising,  she  moved  toward  the 
lounge  and  sank  upon  it.  Dr.  Leigh  again  took  up  the 
book,  and  sat  there  apparently  reading.  Aliena  lay  at 
first  with  her  eyes  wide  open.  But  gradually  lulled  by 
the  stillness,  the  sense  of  protection,  and  the  relief  of 
mind  as  to  her  mother,  and  exhausted  by  loss  of  rest, 
she  sank  to  sleep.  She  started  nervously  as  she  did  so, 
the  same  frightened  look  coming  back  into  her  face,  but 
seeing  Dr.  Leigh  sitting  there  and  her  mother  still 
sleeping  quietly,  her  expression  changed  to  a  look  of 
quiet  rest,  and  she  again  slept. 

Dr.  Leigh  sat  with  the  book  in  his  hand,  thinking 
rather  than  reading. 

"  This  girl  is  capable  of  suffering  martyrdom  for  one 
she  loved,"  and  a  possibility  he  had  long  negatived  came 
to  his  mind.  "  Is  happiness  possible  to  me  ?  Have  I 
wasted  all  the  best,  the  profoundest  feelings  of  my 
nature  ?  Or  is  there  capability  out  of  the  ashes  of  the 
past  to  plume  a  bird,  strong  of  wing,  buoyant  in  courage, 
that  may  soar  to  bathe  its  plumage  in  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  Heaven  ?  " 

He  gave  a  sigh — a  curious  thought  came  to  his  mind, 
"  Ah  I  if  this  girl,  lying  there  with  all  the  mind,  the 
sensibility,  the  affection  apparent  in  her,  with  all  her 
possibilities  for  happiness  or  woe,  had  only  died  in  my 
arms,  instead  of  fainting.  There  could  be  no  change 
then,  eternally  she  would  be  to  me  whatever  ideally  I 
made  her."  And  the  strange  thought  became  almost  a 
wish,  the  imagined  culmination  gave  him  satisfaction. 

Sitting  there  forced  by  circumstances  as  it  were,  into 


58  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

the  position  of  a  protector,  he  felt  that  it  was  sweet  to 
stand  in  that  relation  toward  such  a  woman. 

He  could  not  restrain  his  eyes  from  wandering  now 
and  then  to  the  graceful  form  outlined  in  its  delicately 
rounded  perfection,  in  the  clinging  white  robe;  the  soft 
cheek  resting  upon  one  pink  tipped  white  hand,  while 
the  other  fell  gracefully  upon  her  person ;  her  glory  of 
hair  falling  like  a  shining  veil  around  her ;  her  long, 
dark  lashes  resting  upon  her  pale  cheeks.  The  deep  red 
of  her  exquisite  lips  alone  attesting  that  she  needed  not 
Pygmalion's  thrice  tried  spell  to  make  her  start  to  life. 

The  time  aj^peared  so  short  to  Dr.  Leigh  that  he  w-as 
surprised,  when,  through  the  open  window  he  saw  the 
first  faint  tinge  of  dawn  grow  red  upon  Lookout  mount- 
ain, and  gradually  spread  like  the  life  tint  in  the  statue, 
in  roseate  hue  over  the  graceful  form  and  lovely  face 
before  him. 

Feeling  the  air  chill  as  it  came  across  Aliena  from  the 
open  window,  he  took  a  light  white  shawl  that  was  lay- 
ing near  him,  and  spread  it  over  her.  Quietly  as  this 
was  done  she  awoke.  A  grateful  smile  came  to  her 
face,  and  the  delicate  color  deepened,  as,  rising  to  a  sit- 
ting posture  she  said  softly  and  apologetically,  "  I  did 
not  think  to  keep  you  watching  so  long.  You  must  be 
very  tired.  But  I  was  so  exhausted  I  slept  longer  than 
I  expected." 

"I  could  not  be  tired  while  you  could  be  induced  to 
rest.    You  needed  sleep  almost  as  much  as  your  mother.'' 

"  But  that  I  knew  you  were  watching  I  could  not  have 
slept.     I  will  send  for  Mauma  now." 

''  r  will  go  and  send  her  to  .you,"  he  said. 

When  later  that  morning  Dr.  Leigh  returned  to  see 
Mrs.  Graeme  he  found  her  more  improved  even  than  he 
had  dared  to  hope.  Words  were  scarcely  necessary  to 
communicate  this  to  Aliena.  One  of  those  rarely  illumin- 
ating smiles  lit  up  his  Avhole  face  as  he  said,  "  I  think 
your  mother  will  be  well  enough  for  me  to  take  the 
other  patient  up  Lookout  mountain  tliis  afternoon." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  59 


CHAPTER  XII. 

"Fields,  groves  and  flowery  vales;  above  them  all 
The  golden  sun,  in  splendor  likest  Heaven, 
Allumed  his  eyes." 

Milton  :  Paradise  Lost. 

Though  it  was  only  the  last  of  May,  the  atmosphere 
was  heavy  and  warm  in  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee 
that  afternoon,  as  Aliena  and  Dr.  Leigh  drov6  up  Look- 
out mountain.  It  constantly  freshened  into  that  delight- 
ful vitality  peculiar  to  mountain  air  as  they  ascended, 
the  beautiful  valley  disclosing  more  and  more  to  view. 

xVliena,  relieved  from  apprehension  as  to  her  mother, 
experienced  an  exquisite  feeling  of  exhilaration  in  the 
revulsion.  This  with  the  fresh,  mountain  air  brought 
the  delicate  rose  tint  to  her  cheeks,  deepened  the  red  in 
her  beautiful  mobile  lips,  and  lit  up  her  dark  ej'es. 

Her  happiness  mast  have  been  contagious,  for  Dr. 
Leigh's  face  seemed  to  have  lost  that  abnormal  look  of 
sadness,  which  had  of  late  been  less  habitual ;  and  grow- 
ing animated  in  conversation,  his  intense  eyes  glowed 
with  a  sense  of  happiness,  the  more  striking  from  its 
rarity.  His  eloquence  was  stimulated  by  Aliena's  elo- 
quent listening — a  faculty  she  possessed  in  an  eminent 
degree.  Her  eyes,  her  mouth,  her  whole  face,  in  the 
delicate  play  of  sympathetic,  sensitive  nerves,  mirroring 
the  sentiment  expressed  as  clearly  as  a  mountain  lake 
its  beautiful  surroundings. 

Having  ascended  the  mountain  they  drove  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  Point  of  Rocks ;  from  there  they  walked 
to  where  the  rock  jtits  out  in  a  sheer  precipice,  high 
above  Chattanooga  and  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Ten- 
nessee ;  as,  with  its  silvery,  sinuous  line  stretching  and 
winding  for  miles  before  them,  it  lost  itself  in  the  soft 
blue-gray  haze  in  the  distance.  The  stm  was  about 
setting,  and  the  rays  of  light,  spreading  out  from  their 


60  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

grand  center,  seemed  cro^Yning  him  with  a  dazzling  halo 
as  he  sank  from  sight. 

Dr.  Leigh  instinctively  took  his  hat  from  his  head  as 
they  stood  gazing  in  silence  for  some  minutes  at  the 
scene  before  them. 

"  I  scarcely  wonder  at  times  that  the  devotees  of 
Orniuzd  confound  the  emblem  with  the  Creator,  and 
worship  the  sun,"  said  Dr.  Leigh  at  length,  breaking  the 
silence.  *'  It  seems  to  me  that  if  I  were  a  heathen  that 
is  the  god  I  should  adore." 

Aliena  took  an  inspiration  almost  as  deep  drawn  as 
when  aroused  from  the  swoon  of  the  night  before,  as 
Dr.  Leigh's  voice  recalled  her  thoughts. 

''  I  think  if  I  were  a  Parsee  I  should  make  a  sort  of 
Holy  Virgin  of  the  moon,  and  pray  to  that  for  interces- 
sion," she  said.  "I  should  almost  fear  to  approach  a 
god  of  such  glorious  grandeur  as  the  sun." 

''Did  you  ever  think  of  the  God-like  attributes  of 
the  sun  ?  "  said  Dr.  Leigh. 

"I  don't  know  that  I  ever  did,"  Aliena  replied. 

"I  was  thinking  just  now,  as  I  looked  at  that  God- 
personifying  sun  with  his  halo-crowned  head,  of  how  he 
adorns  the  earth  and  sky  Avith  tints  the  most  delicate  as 
well  as  the  most  gorgeous  ;  such  as  it  never  entered  into 
the  imagination  of  man  to  conceive,  much  less  to  depict. 
Of  the  lightning  rapidity  with  which  he  scornfully  flings 
off  the  artist's  work,  in  the  counterfeit  presentment  of 
nature.  That  without  him  there  can  be  neither  animal 
nor  vegetable  life.  That  when  his  revivifying  rays  are 
withdrawn,  the  pallor  of  death  becomes  the  precursor  of 
dissolution.  That  at  this  temporary  withdrawal  all 
nature  sinks  to  mock  death  to  be  resurrected  at  his 
reappearing  to  renewed  life  ;  all  nature  singing  then  its 
sweetest  matin  hallelujahs.  That  the  very  earth  itself, 
subservient  to  his  will,  revolving  continually  around 
him,  dragging  her  satellite  with  her,  moves  onward  for- 
ever in  his  slow,  silent,  eternal  course  tliroughout 
immensity." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  61 

Aliena  looked  into  Dr.  Leigh's  glowing  face,  as  he 
stood,  with  uncovered  head,  gazing  as  he  spoke  far  off 
at  the  scene  before  him.  His  form  even  seemed  grander 
with  the  theme,  and  her  voice  took  almost  a  tone  of 
reverence  as  she  replied, 

"Don't  tempt  me  to  become  a  convert  to  Ormuzd 
by  your  eloquence,  for  I  feel  in  a  fit  frame  of  mind  to 
act  more  foolishly,  perhaps,  than  Peter  desired  to  do 
upon  the  mount  of  transfiguration." 

"  And  from  the  same  cause.  It  is  not  my  words  that 
have  wrought  upon  you.  It  is  the  sense  of  the  sublime, 
which  in  its  highest  form  is  inseparable  from  worship. 
The  contemplation  of  objects  in  themselves  so  grand  as 
to  produce  a  sense  of  humiliation  in  the  lack  of  capac- 
ity for  their  appreciation,  necessarily  suggests  a  Creator 
so  above,  and  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  conceive  of, 
as  to  cause  him  in  that  supreme  moment,  to  feel  like 
falling  in  humility  and  adoration  before  the  God  made 
faintly  visible  in  his  works." 

''The  greater  the  capacity  for  perception  and  ap- 
])reciation,  the  more  God-like  man  becomes,"  said 
Aliena,  looking  with  a  curiously  mingled  expression 
into  Dr.  Leigh's  face,  lit  up  as  it  was  with  the  intense 
sense  of  the  sublime.  Something  in  her  tone  jarred 
upon  Dr.  Leigh,  and  he  did  not  speak  for  some  mo- 
ments. 

Letting  his  thoughts  drift  on,  he  asked  at  length, 
"  Do  you  think  it  possible  to  find  the  same  pleasure  in 
the  contemplation  of  objects,  however  grand  in  them- 
selves— alone  without  sympathy  ?  " 

Aliena  glanced  at  Dr.  Leigh's  saddened  face  now 
turned  to  her,  and  hers  grew  sad  as  her  thoughts 
reverted  with  a  guilty  feeling  to  Major  Baron,  shut  up 
to  privation  and  danger,  to  whom  she  had  been  so 
oblivious  in  this  evening's  enjoyment — one  of  those 
gems  the  brighter  for  the  blackness  of  its  surround- 
ings—-and  she  replied  sadly,  "No,  I  think  it  impossible 
to  enjoy  anything  in  the  highest  degree  without  sympa- 


62  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

thy — alone — if  there  is  such  a  thing  possible  as  being 
alone  in  its  fullest  sense." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  You  do  not  believe  in  spiritual 
presence  ?  " 

"  If  you  mean  angelic  presence,  I  do.  The  Bible  cer- 
tainly teaches  the  ministry  of  angels,  and  it  is  delightful 
to  think  that  even  now  Ave  may  be  surrounded  by  an- 
gelic hosts.  As  to  the  spirits  of  departed  loved  ones, 
I  do  not  know  what  to  believe.  Though  I  can  scarcely 
think  it  possible  that  the}'  are  permitted  to  revisit 
scenes  likely  to  harrow  them  with  pain.  I  was  think- 
ing of  something,  however,  scarcely  less  tangible  than 
even  spiritual  presence.  The  being  alone  does  not  seem 
to  me  to  depend  upon  actual  presence.  There  is,  I  think, 
an  invisible,  inexplicable  bond,  which  distance  has  not 
the  power  to  sever.  A  subtile  spell,  or  influence,  by 
which  we  are  constantly  held  in  intercommunion  with 
those  we  love.  Possibly  even  malign  influences  may 
thus  be  brought  to  bear." 

"  Since  the  very  lightning  has  been  tamed  and  made 
to  do  the  bidding  of  man,  and  is  constantl}^  driven  in 
delicate  ^^races  ;  and  one  may  sit  and  hold  communion 
with  the  antipodes  of  the  earth,  it  does  not  require  a 
great  strain  upon  the  imagination  to  think  that  the 
subtile  influences  of  personal  magnetism  may  hold  the 
mind  and  heart  in  sympathy.  A  sympathy  as  real,  if  as 
intangible,  as  that  by  Avhich  the  needle  is  held  in  its 
mysterious  devotion  to  the  pole.  But  I  think  you  are 
wrong  in  using  'those,'  the  plural.  In  its  highest  sense 
sympathy  can  exist  only  between  soul  and  soul.  The 
human  soul  is  of  dual  unity,  incomplete  and  maimed 
otherwise,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  looking  earnestly  into 
Aliena's  face. 

She  relapsed  into  silence,  thinking  somehow  doubt- 
fully of  the  power  of  being  held  in  inter-communion,  in 
its  highest  sense,  with  one  of  whom  she  thought;  but 
she  instantly  banished  the  traitorous  doubt. 

Dr.  Leigh  seemed  to  have  forgotten  the  scene  before 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  63 

him  in  a  curious  speculative  study  of  the  far-away 
expression  that  had  come  into  the  eyes  before  him. 
Becoming  conscious  of  this  Aliena's  eyes  met  his,  appar- 
ently reading  her  thoughts,  and  the  delicate  color  over- 
spread her  face,  her  white  throat,  and  even  her  shell- 
like ears.  With  a  suppressed  sigh  she  said,  "  Is  it  not 
time  we  were  returning  ?  "  and  taking  a  lingering  fare- 
well look  at  the  valley  before  them,  they  turned  to  go. 

Aliena's  heart  saddened  as  they  descended  the  moun- 
tain and  she  thought  of  taking  up  again  the  burden  of 
life.  And  as  they  entered  the  valley  and  the  tAvilight 
deepened,  there  seemed  to  come  a  proportional  reaction 
to  Dr.  Leigh  from  his  exaltation  on  the  heights.  A 
feeling  that  though  seated  by  the  side  of  Aliena,  they 
were  as  far  asunder  as  though  seas  divided  them. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

"  If  impious  war — 
Arrayed  in  flames,  like  to  the  prince  of  fiends, — 
Do  with  his  smirch'd  complexion,  all  fell  deeds 
Enlink'd  to  waste  and  desolation." 

Shakespeare. 

It  is  useless  to  depict  the  scenes  of  that  memorable 
day  in  May,  when  Vicksburg,  astounded  and  paralyzed, 
saw  the  little  army  that  had  gone  out  to  confront  the 
enemy  and  prevent  a  landing  below  return — defeated 
by  the  hordes  that  had  been  launched  against  this  de- 
voted place.  And  the  appalling  certainty  fell  upon  all 
that  they  were  shut  up  to  the  horrors  of  a  siege,  the 
dangers  of  Avhich  must  he  shared  alike. 

No  thought  was  at  first  entertained,  but  that  the 
victorious  army  would  advance  and  take  possession  of 
the  place  ;  and  thus  achieve  an  easy  conquest. 

All  were  terror-stricken.  But  night  came  on,  and 
still  the  enemy  had   not   appeared.     With   the   dawn 


64  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

courage  revived.  Preparations  were  hurriedly  inaugu- 
rated to  meet  the  new  exigencies.  The  spade  rather 
than  the  gun  now  absorbed  the  energy  of  the  besieged. 
Earthworks  were  strengthened.  Caves  were  excavated 
in  the  hillsides.  Those  dank,  dark  vaulted  arches 
where,  when  the  heavens  rained  shot  and  shell,  women 
and  children  took  refuge. 

Day  after  day  passed,  and  the  tired,  ill-fed  soldiers 
in  the  sun-scorched  trenches,  stood  heroically  to  their 
guns.  And  hope  revived.  Wild  rumors  of  gathering 
strength  outside,  with  which  in  combined  assault  the 
city  was  to  be  rescued,  buoyed  the  soldiers,  and 
cheered  the  hearts  of  all  until  they  grew  strong  again. 
And,  remembering  that  the  eyes  of  the  world  were  upon 
them,  they  stood  ready  to  meet  death  rather  than  to 
surrender. 

Grown  accustomed  at  length  to  the  continuous  firing, 
even  women  scarcely  quailed  under  ordinary  bombard- 
ment. And  mirth,  and  even  jollity  occasionally  les- 
sened the  tension  of  the  times.  IMajor  Baron,  now  not 
only  separated  from  Aliena,  but  cut  off  from  communi- 
cation with  her,  did  miss  those  sweet  endearing  mis- 
sives for  Avhich  he  had  looked  Avith  pleasure.  But 
trusting  her  love  implicitly,  no  anxious  thought  in  that 
direction  disturbed  his  mind.  He  dwelt  with  satisfac- 
tion upon  the  yearning  love  and  prayers  which  he  be- 
lieved followed  him  in  his  peril. 

As  he  stood  by  his  guns  with  the  whizzing  and  roar- 
ing of  shot  and  shell,  offensive  and  defensive,  going  on 
about  him,  his  thoughts  took  a  more  serious  turn ;  as 
will  those  of  the  most  hardened  under  danger.  Not  that 
Major  Baron  should  be  included  in  that  number.  Yet 
upon  "  the  palimpsest  of  memory "  arose  some  scenes 
in  life  he  would  gladly  have  had  obliterated.  And  a 
sense  of  unworthiness  oppressed  him  at  times  in  the 
face  of  eternity,  as  it  were.  But  in  the  relaxation  fol- 
lowing this  tension  his  views,  as  is  natural,  also  relaxed ; 
and  self-complacency  coming  to  the  rescue  re-asserted 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  65 

its  sway.  He  thought,  as  was  natural,  that  after  all  he 
was  quite  as  good,  if  not  better,  than  the  majority  of 
men.  A  young  man  must  sow  his  wild  oats ;  he  had 
not  sowed  more  than  the  usual  crop ;  and  if  he  had  not 
quite  finished,  in  some  cases  at  least,  he  could  fall 
back  upon  the  manly  refuge,  "  the  woman,  she  tempted 
me." 

When  not  feeling  quite  at  ease  in  mind  he  found 
Lilian  Selwyn's  society  soothing;  she  being  amongst  the 
number  shut  up  in  the  besieged  city.  There  were  con- 
stant opportunities  afforded  her  now  for  appealing  for 
sympathy  and  protection.  In  fact  Lilian  had  learned 
to  take  a  sort  of  secret  satisfaction  in  the  sense  of 
danger,  as  a  means  of  warfare  of  her  own,  in  which,  not 
unnaturally,  she  found  solace  for  apprehension.  Living 
in  some  luxury,  as  Lilian  did,  there  were  other  induce'- 
ments  to  Major  Baron  to  seek  her  society  beside  her 
personal  charms.  He  was  indebted  to  her  for  many 
little  luxuries  p^referable  to  soldiers'  fare  in  a  besieged 
city ;  it  being  the  good  fortune  of  some,  not  only  ahvays 
to  find  "soft  raiment,"  but  "the  wine  and  milk"  of 
this  life.  So  even  under  present  emergencies,  Major 
Baron  was  still  himself,  and  the  little  bird,  if  he  had 
been  malicious,  might  have  whispered  of  "  many  a  vow 
and  ne'er  a  true  one." 

Major  Baron  occasionally  visited  Castle  Hill,  roamed 
in  its  grounds  or  gathered  flowers  from  conservatory 
and  garden,  by  permission— the  German  gardener  hav- 
ing been  so  instructed.  One  should  take  it  for  granted 
that  these  flowers  exhaled  to  his  imagination  the  thought, 
"  As  the  lily  among  the  thorns  so  is  my  love  among  the 
roses." 

On  one  occasion  however,  when  there  was  a  compar- 
ative cessation  in  firing,  Lihan  Selwvn  ventured  at  his 
request  to  accompany  him  in  one  "of  his  rambles  at 
Castle  Hill.  Here  his  taste  for  the  beautiful  made  him 
adorn  her  with  flowers ;  and  they  floated  in  the  little 
boat ;  and  lingered  in  the  twilight. 


66  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

"  Cecil  is  such  a  sweet  name,"  the  little  bird  heard 
Lilian  say,  lingering  caressingly  upon  the  name. 

"  It  is  very  sweet  when  you  say  it.  Won't  you  call 
me  that  again  ?  "  IMajor  Baron  asked  with  a  lingering, 
audacious  look. 

She  was  very  close  to  him,  he  had  just  assisted  her 
from  the  little  boat,  and  still  retained  her  soft,  white 
hind  in  his. 

•'  I  have  no  business  calling  you  that,"  she  said  return- 
ing his  look  bewitchingly. 

"  But  you  Avill,"  he  said. 

She  looked  up,  smiling,  into  his  ardent  eyes,  and 
said  with  a  lingering,  caressing  tone,  "  Cecil  Baron." 

Her  mouth  was  ver}^  near.  It  looked  so  temptingly 
sweet  that  the  sound  was  cut  a  little  short  in  some  way 
— apparently  not  distasteful  to  either  party. 

"  Won't  you  say  it  again  ?  "  he  asked,  gazing  at  her 
ardently. 

"Not  if  it  is  going  to  be  stopped  that  way,"  she  re- 
plied, glancing  up  coquettishly,  a  pretty  glow  suffusing 
her  face. 

A  shell  went  whizzing  over-head,  and  striking  not  far 
distant  it  exploded  with  a  deafening  concussion.  The 
evening  firing  had  begun.  Lilian  had  improved  in  nerve 
since  the  night  when  she  had  taken  flight  with  Major 
Baron  from  the  ball  during  the  bombardment.  Scarcely 
a  moment  intervened  and  another  shell  struck  even 
nearer,  and  exploded  with  a  frightful  concussion  which 
shook  the  ground. 

"  For  mercy's  sake  let 's  get  away  from  here,"  said 
Lilian,  clutching  hold  of  Major  Baron,  forgetful  of 
coquetry,  now  really  frightened. 

"I  think  from  the  sound  that  shell  must  have  ex- 
ploded in  the  Castle,"  said  Major  Baron.  And  they 
moved  rapidly  on  toward  her  father's  cave ;  the  firing 
growing  more  and  more  fearful. 

"  What  on  earth  possessed  you  to  walk  so  far?  Your 
father  and  I  have  been  almost  crazy  about  you  ever 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  67 

since  this  firing  began,"  said  Mrs.  Selwyn,  who  was  on 
the  look-out  fur  them  at  the  entrance  of  the  cave. 

Lilian,  too  much  out  of  breath  from  fright  and  haste 
to  answer,  disappeared  in  the  dark,  cramped  vault ; 
amazed  at  her  own  temerity.  And  Major  Baron  re- 
turned to  his  guns,  wliile  the  firing  went  furiously  on. 

The  following  afternoon  JNIajor  Baron  went  again  to 
Castle  Hill,  alone,  to  see  what  damage  had  been  done 
the  evening  before.  He  was  beginning  to  feel  a  sort  of 
proprietorship  there.  The  undipped  shrubbery  and 
hedges  began  already  to  have  a  wilder  look  of  luxuri- 
ance, adding,  if  anything,  to  the  beauty  of  the  deserted 
place. 

The  German  woman,  coming  to  answer  the  unusual 
sound  of  the  door-bell,  peered  curiously  around  one  of 
the  turrets.  Seeing  who  it  was  she  came  forward  with 
alacrity,  saying,  ''  Good-eben,  jNIajor  Baron,  dot  is  you 
is  it?  We  hab  haf  von  ter'ble  time  yest-day  eben. 
We  vas  taut  dot  we  vas  kilt  dis  dimes,  shure." 

"  I  came  to  see  if  there  were  any  killed  and  wounded." 

"  How  is  it  dot  you  knows  dot  die  shell  hab  sthruck 
us  ?  "  the  woman  asked.  In  her  surprise  confounding 
her  identity  Avith  that  of  The  Castle. 

Waiving  a  direct  answer.  Major  Baron  said,  "  You 
know  we  had  a  sharper  time  than  usual  yesterday  even- 
ing, and  I  did  not  know  but  that  The  Castle  might  have 
been  struck.  It  has  been  before,  and  it  is  a  prominent 
l)lace." 

"We  did  hab  von  fer-ful  dimes,  sir,  but  tank  die 
Lordt  dot  we  vas  not  hurted.  Vait  til  dot  I  can  go 
rount  and  open  die  door,  unt  I  vill  show  you  sometings, 
how  it  toret  up  tings  fer-ful,  sir,"  the  woman  replied,  dis- 
appearing around  the  turret. 

Major  Baron  had  time  to  look  about  him  while  she 
went  for  the  key.  The  great  white  magnolia  blooms 
were  filling  the  air  with  fragrance.  The  mocking  birds 
from  their  nest  in  the  magnolia  were  learning  to  fly.  A 
wild,  yellow  cat,  hiding  under  the  clump  of  azaleas  was 


68  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T, 

stealthily  lying  in  wait,  its  head  resting  upon  its  paws, 
pretending  to  sleep,  but  watching  the  delicate  coveted 
morceaii  with  deceitful,  blinking  eyes.  One  of  the 
young  birds  dropped  almost  to  the  ground,  and  the 
eyes  of  the  cat  emitted  a  sort  of  flame  as  he  watched 
his  opportunity  to  spring  upon  it.  He  was  restrained 
possibly  by  i\lajor  Baron's  presence ;  or  by  the  angry 
screams  of  the  old  birds  as  they  swooped  down  again 
and  again  to  protect  their  young.  After  renewed  efforts 
the  young  bird  soared,  on  feebly  fluttering  wings,  to  the 
branches  of  a  pomegranate,  that  stood  near;  thus 
escaping  its  ambushed  enemy. 

A  spider  of  unusual  size  had  spun  its  web  from  the 
banksia  rose,  that  had  ceased  to  bloom,  to  a  hydranger 
near,  which  was  covered  with  masses  of  pale  blue  flow- 
ers. The  geometric  lines  of  the  web  were  assuming 
rauibow  tints  in  the  sunshine.  The  edge  of  the  Aveb 
having  been  broken  by  Major  Baron,  the  spider  was 
vigorously  engaged  repairing  the  damage  done ;  running 
hither  and  thither,  drawing  out  the  lines  and  clamping 
them  with  wonderful  celerity  and  skill. 

Leaves  had  gathered  upon  the  portico  ;  drifted  by  the 
wind  they  lay  in  little  heaps  against  the  columns  and 
sides  of  the  house.  The  sound  of  the  bolt  withdrawn 
and  of  the  key  turned  with  a  clank,  resounding  in  the 
silent,  deserted  house,  recalled  Major  Baron's  thoughts, 
and  the  door  being  opened  he  entered.  The  locked  up 
air  had  a  close,  clank  smell.  Major  Brown  halted  in 
the  rotunda,  looking  around.  From  habit  he  took  off 
his  military  cap  and  ran  his  fingers  over  his  hair.  He 
certainly  looked  very  handsome  as  he  stood  there 
flooded  by  the  rich,  warm  light  that  fell  upon  him 
through  the  stained  glass  of  the  rotunda.  Turning 
into  the  southern  hall  the  woman  unlocked  another 
door,  and  they  entered  the  parlors.  What  a  scene  of 
destruction  here  met  his  eyes  ? 

The  shell,  entering  from  the  west,  had  shattered  the 
great  mirror  in  the  front  parlor,  splintering  the  ebony 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  69 

table  as  it  passed  on  down  into  the  wine  cellar  below, 
where  it  had  exploded.  The  fragments,  thrown  back, 
had  burst  again  into  the  room,  leaving  a  great  chasm  in 
the  floor,  striking  in  wild  confusion  all  around. 

The  chandelier  was  shattered  to  pieces ;  a  portion  of 
the  shell  had  struck  full  upon  the  i)icture  of  the  drip- 
ping girl  upon  the  sea-beach,  imbedding  a  large  portion 
in  the  wall  beyond.  Splinters  of  wood,  fragments  of 
shell,  of  plaster,  of  the  mirrors,  and  of  the  chandeliers 
were  strewn  over  the  floor  and  over  the  shrouded 
furniture. 

Turning  at  length  sadly  away  from  the  wreck  of  the 
rooms  so  changed  since  those  halcyon  days,  he  had 
spent  in  them.  Major  Baron  directed  the  woman  to 
close  the  house  again. 

Standing  once  more  upon  the  portico  he  heard  the 
dreary  sound  of  lock  and  bolt  with  a  sort  of  ominous 
shudder.  He  remembered  a  time  when  he  had  smil- 
ingly plead  here  against  being  shut  out  of  Paradise.  In- 
stead of  leaving,  he  again  seated  himself  upon  the  steps 
under  the  banksia  rose. 

The  yellow  cat  was  still  on  guard.  A  successful 
spring  soon  crow^ned  his  efforts  in  spite  of  the  screams 
of  the  swooping  birds.  Major  Baron*  did  not  move  to 
the  rescue,  though  he  averted  his  eyes  as  he  heard  the 
crunching  of  the  soft  bones;  while  the  parent  birds 
moving  frantically  hither  and  thither,  uttered  their  wild 
cries  of  distress."^  The  spider  was  peeping  out  of  the 
tunnel  in  his  main  fortiflcation,  dubious  as  to  coming 
to  the  front  again  for  repairs,  while  his  enemy  sat 
calmly  smoking  beneath  another  rent  he  had  made. 

All  the  sweet  and  bitter  memories  of  the  past  came 
back  to  Major  Baron's  mind  as  he  sat  there  ;  the  time 
from  when  he  had  first  met  Aliena  in  Italy,  his  renewed 
acquaintance  when  ordered  to  Vicksburg,  and  all  the 
happy  days  since  then  until  her  departure  as  his 
aflianced  bride.  He  felt  now  as  then  how  incompara- 
bly above  and  beyond  all  the  women  to  whom  he  might 


70  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

have  said  words  of  love,  she  seemed  in  delicate,  trust- 
ing, self-sacrificing  affection.  He  wondered  that  he  had 
been  blessed  with  such  love  from  such  a  woman,  '^  un- 
spotted from  the  Avorld."  And  his  better  nature  pleaded 
Avith  him  to  be  worthy  of  her  love. 

Not  that  his  conscience  troubled  him.  If  conscience 
it  might  be  called,  in  one  to  whom  his  own  pleasure 
was  the  law  of  life,  a  law  restrained  only  by  a  sense  of 
honor,  as  the  w^orld  calls  honor.  There  was  a  little 
festering  spot  of  which  he  also  thought  now;  this 
troubled  him  at  times.  But  a  cordon  of  guns  sepa- 
rated him  from  this  source  of  annoyance ;  there  was 
comfort  in  that. 

As  to  Lilian  Selwyn,  he  considered  that  pastime.  '"I 
cannot  hurt  her,"  he  thought.  Living  in  the  present 
was  his  motto,  and  he  reveled  in  his  honey  as  he  gath- 
ered it;  he  was  not  wont  to  look  into  the  future  for 
care. 

Throwing  away  the  remnant  of  his  cigar.  Major  Baron 
walked  on,  mounted  his  horse,  and  rode  slowly  and 
sadly  down  the  winding  graveled  road  and  out  of  the 
grounds.  As  he  left  the  gate  he  met  Colonel  Harvey 
on  horse  back,  going  in  the  same  direction. 

"  One  would  imagine  the  Graemes  were  at  home  to 
see  you  coming  out  of  this  gate,"  said  Colonel  Har\ey. 

"  I  could  scarcely  wish  them  back  again  since  I  have 
seen  the  Avreck  and  ruin  in  the  Castle." 

''  Why,  has  anything  happened  there  ?  " 

'^  A  shell  exploded  yesterday  in  one  of  the  parlors, 
demolishing  things  generally.  Miss  Graeme  might  have 
met  death  if  she  had  been  there." 

'"  Death  is  not  the  worst  fate  that  can  befall  one," 
said  Colonel  Harvey  as  he  turned  into  one  of  the  forts, 
leaving  Major  Baron  to  his  own  reflections. 

Major  Baron's  thoughts  reverted  for  some  reason  to 
the  night  in  Jackson,  when  the  startled,  pleading  eyes 
had  been  raised  to  his  in  gladness  and  surprise,  mingled 
with  pain  and  fear  as  his  outstretclied  hand  had  been 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  71 

withdrawn.  And  to  the  wail  of  love  and  anguish  in 
the  utterance  of  his  name,  "  Cecil,"  then,  which  no 
more  mellifluous  tones  could  now  obliterate  from 
memory. 

''  He  is  a  confounded  puppy,"  Major  Baron  said  to 
himself  angrily,  in  thought  of  Colonel  Harvey,  for  what 
reason  he  could  not  exactly  have  defined.  And  dig- 
ging his  spurs  violently  into  the  sides  of  his  horse  he 
galloped  on  to  barracks.     The  evening  firing  had  begun. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

*'  By  the  stern  brow  and  waspish  action 
Which  she  did  use,  it  bears  an  angry  tenor." 

Dr.  Leigh  and  Aliena  had  not  visited  Lookout  moun- 
tain without  the  knowledge  of  so  alert  a  lady  as  Mrs. 
Skinker,  and  not  liking  the  turn  events  were  taking 
she  determined  upon  reconnoitering  the  ground.  Pay- 
ing some  extra  attention  to  her  toilet,  still  retaining  the 
favorite  scarlet  top-knot,  she  waited  until  she  heard  Dr. 
Leigh  go  to  Mrs.  Graeme's  room ;  then  taking  a  little 
bowl  of  jelly,  procured  as  usual  from  the  steward,  she 
started  herself  in  the  same  direction. 

Here,  tapping  at  the  half  open  door,  she  entered  with- 
out waiting  a  summons.  Apparently  too  much  inter- 
ested in  the  patient  to  notice  any  one  else,  she  stepped 
briskly  to  the  bedside,  with  that  energetic  movement 
which  always  startled  ]Mrs.  Graeme,  and  kept  her  nerves 
in  quivering  motion  as  long  as  Mrs.  Skinker  was  in  the 
room. 

''  Here  is  some  jelly  I  have  brought  you.  I  hope  you 
will  be  able  to  relish  it.  No  doubt  you  will  since  you 
are  so  much  better.  I  was  delighted  to  see  that  you 
were  well  enough  for  Miss  Graeme  and  Dr.  Leigh  to 
leave  you   this  evening,"   said    Mrs.    Skinker   in    that 


72  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

quick,  sharp  voice  whose  metallic  ring  was  as  startling 
to  Mrs.  Graeme  as  her  manner.  ''  Thank  you,"  Mrs. 
Graeme  gasped  feebly,  with  a  feeling  of  oppression 
which  was  partially  relieved  by  Mrs.  Skinker's  leaving 
her  bedside  and  approaching  Dr.  Leigh  and  Aliena. 

"  I  hope  you  enjoyed  your  drive  this  afternoon,"  she 
said,  including  them  both  in  her  remark  as  she  had  done 
in  her  bow  with  a  smile  which  showed  the  incisors. 

Dr.  Leigh  was  not  habitually  anxious  to  respond  to 
Mrs.  Skinker's  remarks,  but  upon  this  occasion  he  vol- 
unteered to  reply.  ''  It  was  a  very  pleasant  afternoon," 
a  remark  that  might  have  applied  indefinitely  to  the 
meteorological  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  or  to  the 
drive  itself. 
•  '^  Did  you  go  up  the  mountain  ?  "  she  continued. 

Dr.  Leigh,  having  had  some  experience  in  Mrs. 
Skinker's  faculty  for  catechizing,  seeing  that  she  was 
bent  in  that  direction,  abandoned  the  conversational 
arena,  leaving  Aliena  to  reply.  "  Yes,  niadam,"  Aliena 
said  laconically,  feeling  no  desire  to  enlarge  upon  the 
subject  to  one  in  whom  she  felt  she  could  scarcety  ex- 
pect to  find  aesthetic  sympathy. 

"  Don't  you  think  it  a  pretty  view  ?  "  Mrs.  Skinker 
persisted. 

Aliena  experienced  the  sensation  she  might  have 
done  from  a  cold  douche  at  this  remark,  and,  hesitating 
to  reply,  Dr.  Leigh  came  to  the  rescue,  saying, 

"I  scarcely  think  the  term  pretty  most  api^licable  to 
that  view." 

"That  depends  perhaps  upon  the  sentimental  con- 
dition of  those  enjoying  it,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker  with  a 
forced  smile  which  again  showed  the  incisors.  And 
she  treated  herself  to  a  little  shower  of  satisfactory  snaps 
at  this  home  thrust. 

Dr.  Leigh  glanced  at  Aliena,  but  relieved  at  the  uncon- 
scious look  upon  her  face  he  made  no  reply,  as  he  had 
been  tempted  to  do.  But  addressing  her  he  gave  some 
directions  for  the  niofht  in  reg-ard  to  her  mother,  and  left. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  73 

He  had  intended  to  offer  to  watch  with  Mrs.  Graeme 
^to  prevent  farther  apprehension  upon  Aliena's  part, 
either  in  regard  to  her  mother,  or  to  the  reappearance 
of  the  robber ;  but  he  was  prevented  by  Mrs.  Skinker's 
presence,  and  by  her  hast  remark.  A  fact  which  would 
have  afforded  her  satisfaction  if  she  could  have  been 
aAvare  of  it. 

She  conthmed  her  questioning  after  Dr.  Leigh  left, 
but  found  it  impossible  to  extract  anything  from 
Aliena,  who  was  unconscious  of  her  drift,  and  perfectly 
self-oblivious  in  her  replies. 

Mrs.  Skinker  was  about  to  leave  when  it  occurred  to 
her  to  ask,  ''  Miss  Graeme,  did  you  hear  anything  fall  in 
the  hall  last  night?" 

Aliena  could  truthfully  have  said  that  she  did  not, 
having  been  unconscious  of  that  sound.  But  a  vague 
idea  of  her  having  fallen  coming  to  her  mind,  "with  the 
remembrance  of  finding  herself  afterward  in  her  own 
room ;  and  the  thought  that  she  must  have  been  carried 
there  by  Dr.  Leigh,  which  occurred  to  her  for  the  first 
time  ;  together  with  the  evasion  made  necessary  by  Dr. 
Leidi's  havinsj  suo-aested  to  her  not  to  speak  of  the 
robbery,  caused  the  color  to  deepen  m  her  lace  as  sne 
replied,  "  I  did  not  hear  anything  fall." 

Mrs.  Skinker's  keen  eye  detected  the  embarrassment 
and  evasion  at  once,  and  her  suspicious  mind  set  to 
work  to  unravel  the  mystery — and  saying  good-night, 
she  returned  to  her  own  room.  Here  she  again  met 
Di'.  Leigh,  whom  her  father  had  stopped  in  consultation 
as  to  his  health.  Mr.  Bledsoe  was  more  feeble  this 
evening  than  usual.  The  hectic  spot  on  his  cheeks  had 
deepened  in  color,  his  respiration  was  hard  and  labored, 
and  the  pain  and  oppression  were  evidently  more  unen- 
durable. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe  was  sitting  with  her  hands  meekly 
folded  in  her  lap.  Arista,  taking  advantage  of  her 
mother's  absence,  had  been  rummaging  in  one  of  the 
bureau   drawers,  from  which   she  had  taken  out  and 


74  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

arranged  upon  her  person  sundry  articles  of  tawdry 
finery  which  had  not  improved  her  appearance.  Hav- 
ing wet  and  plastered  her  hair  back  from  her  face,  and 
tucked  up  what  she  could  screw  to  the  rear  of  her  head 
with  a  large  comb,  she  had  put  on  a  faded  artificial 
wreath,  from  under  which,  on  each  side  of  the  unnatu- 
rally old  face,  streamed  Medusa-like  false  curls. 

As  Mrs.  Skinker  entered  the  room  Arista  caught 
sight  of  her  in  the  looking-glass,  and  turning  guiltily 
around  she  certainly  presented  a  comical  appearance. 
]Mrs.  Skinker,  however,  did  not  see  the  ludicrous  side  of 
the  picture.  Restraining  herself  as  much  as  possible, 
on  account  of  Dr.  Leigh's  presence,  she  exclaimed  in  a 
tone  in  which  her  state  of  feelings  cropped  out  in  spite 
of  herself,  "Arista,  what  on  earth  are  you  doing  there  ?  " 
and,  endeavoring  to  smile  as  she  passed  Dr.  Leigh,  she 
made  a  swoop  at  the  head  of  the  child,  bringing  off 
curls,  flow^ers  and  comb  with  some  of  the  natural  hair, 
in  a  manner  not  unattended  with  pain  to  the  forlorn 
looking  little  elf;  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  she 
had  the  articles  back  in  the  drawer. 

Arista  stood  this  like  a  stoic,  feeling  assured  that  Ijut 
for  the  presence  of  Dr.  Leigh,  she  might  not  have  es- 
caped so  easily. 

"  Ma,  what  possessed  5'ou  to  let  Arista  act  so,"  said 
jNIrs.  Skinker  in  an  under-tone,  under  cover  of  Dr. 
Leigh's  conversation  with  her  father. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe  only  heaved  a  sigh  of  put  upon  resig- 
nation, folded  her  hands,  and  cast  her  eye  heavenward 
with  greater  meekness  ;  which  always  exasperated  Mrs. 
Skinker  and  set  her  eyes  to  snapping.  But  she  re- 
strained herself  from  saying  anything  more  to  her 
mother,  and  watching  her  opportunity,  in  a  pause  in 
the  conversation  between  the  two  gentlemen,  she  struck 
in  deftly  : 

"  Doctor,  did  n't  you  hear  something  fall  in  the  hall 
last  night?  It  seemed  to  be  up  at  your  end  of  the 
hall." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  75 

"At  what  hour  was  it  ?  "  Dr.  Leigh  asked,  to  give 
himself  time  to  evade  Mrs.  Skinker's  unexpected  ques- 
tion. 

"  I  don't  know  exactly  what  time  it  was.  I  had  been 
asleep,  and  woke  with  the  sound  as  of  something  heavy 
falling,  and  I  thought  I  heard  footsteps  in  the  hall." 

''  I  think  I  did  hear  something  of  the  kind  before  I 
went  to  sleep,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  with  an  assumed  air  of 
indifference. 

Mrs.  Skiiiker,  being  on  the  alert,  felt  quite  assured 
by  Dr.  Leigh's  answer  and  manner  that  he  knew  more 
about  it  than  he  chose  to  tell,  and  would  have  contin- 
ued her  inquiries  but  that  he  arose  to  leave. 

The  room  door  had  stood  open  during  this  visit  and 
conversation,  and  Dr.  Leigh,  after  giving  some  direc- 
tions to  ^Ir.  Bledsoe,  professionally,  left  the-  room.  As 
he  did  so,  notwithstanding  the  dim  light  in  the  hall, 
he  caught  the  glitter  of  a  pair  of  keen  eyes  looking 
through  the  transom  over  the  door  of  a  room  nearly 
opposite.  He  walked  on,  revolving  this  incident  in  his 
mind. 

The  numerous  engagements  of  the  day,  at  the  hospi- 
tal and  upon  the  mountain,  had  not  prevented  Dr.  Leigh 
from  making  such  inquiries  as  would  not  arouse  com- 
ment, with  the  view  of  obtaining  a  clue  to  the  robber 
of  the  night  before.  He  had  hoped  that  the  fear  of 
detection  had  caused  the  mai:r  to  leave  the  same  night, 
the  constant  moving  hither  and  thither  which  the  times 
necessitated  making  it  easy  to  elude  suspicion.  But 
the  sight  of  those  glittering  eyes  under  such  suspicious 
circumstances  caused  him  to  think  instantly  that  this 
might  be  the  robber.  He  had  refrained  from  giving  any 
evidence  of  having  seen  the  eyes  as  he  passed  the  room, 
but  walking  on  to  the  office,  he  inquired  as  to  who  was 
occupying  that  apartment. 

The  clerk  referred  to  his  book,  and  replied,  ''  John 
Smith." 

Dr.  Leigh  looked  at  the  register  liimself,  and  found 


76  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

the  name  written  in  a  fine,  bold  hand  ;  which  somehow 
seemed  familiar  to  him.  A  good  name  to  avoid  identity, 
Dr.  Leigh  thought. 

"  How  long  has  he  been  here  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  He  came  yesterday  evening  on  the  eight  o'clock 
train,  and  has  been  in  bed  sick  ever  since,  I  believe.  I 
suppose  he  has  called  you  in  to  see  him  ?  " 

''  It  is  very  well  to  know  with  whom  one  has  to  deal," 
Dr.  Leigh  responded  evasively. 

Supposing  now  that  this  man,  whom  more  than  ever 
he  believed  to  be  the  robber,  would  not  leave  his  room 
until  time  for  the  train  at  eleven  o'clock,  the  first  going 
out.  Dr.  Leigh  determined  to  assure  himself  as  to  his 
leaving.  Returning  with  this  purpose,  as  he  ascended 
the  steps  in  the  side-hall  and  turned  into  the  main  one, 
he  saw,  in  the  partly  open  door  of  the  room  where  the 
glittering  eyes  had  peered  above  the  transom,  a  man's 
head  peeping  out,  evidently  reconnoitering.  The  man 
must  have  turned  his  head  in  the  opposite  direction  at 
the  moment  Dr.  Leigh  appeared ;  as,  seemingly  assured 
of  his  opportunity,  he  moved  swiftly  and  noiselessly 
across  the  hall  toward  the  open  door  of  the  room  where 
the  Bledsoe  party  were  still  assembled,  from  whence 
could  be  heard  Mrs.  Skinker's  voice  in  excited  conver- 
sation. She  and  her  mother  were  having  a  little  tilt  in 
reference  to  Arista's  late  procedure.  Dr.  Leigh  now 
felt  assured  that  this  was  the  robber,  and,  knowing  Mr. 
Bledsoe's  enfeebled  condition,  and  that  he  was  in  no 
state  to  cope  with  so  stalwart  a  person,  he  moved  rapidly 
to  the  rescue. 

"  My  God !  "  he  heard  Mrs.  Bledsoe  exclaim  as  though 
aghast. 

"Jim  Skinker?"  ejaculated  Mr.  Bledsoe  in  a  tone  of 
scarcely  less  horror, — while  Mrs.  Skinker  must  have 
been  struck  dumb,  as  she  uttered  no  sound. 

"You  don't  give  me  a  very  affectionate  welcome, 
after  such  a  long  absence,"  he  heard  the  man  say  as  he 
closed  and  locked  the  door  quickly. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  77 

Dr.  Leigh  lialted,  astounded  at  what  he  had  heard. 
He  could  not  at  first  make  himself  believe  otherwise 
than  that  the  recognition  of  the  parties  was  a  mistake 
of  his  own  imagination,  since  Mrs.  Bledsoe  had  told  him 
that  her  son-in-law  was  dead.  But  he  understood  now 
why  the  handwriting  had  appeared  so  familiar  to  him. 
A  signature  by  the  same  hand,  of  Dr.  Leigh's  own  name, 
had  cost  him  some  thousands  of  dollars  ;  the  discovery 
of  which,  had  some  years  before  caused  the  flight  of  the 
unfortunate  man. 

He  waited  for  some  moments  expecting  an  outcrj^, 
but  hearing  nothing  that  could  be  construed  into  a  call 
for  help  he  moved  off,  with  the  unpleasant  consciousness 
of  havnig  unwittingly  acted  as  a  spy  upon  those  to 
whom  he  had  intended  only  kindness. 

Mr.  Skinker,  after  locking  the  door,  calmly  surveyed 
the  horror-stricken  group.  Even  Mrs.  Skinker  had  a 
more  subdued  look  than  one  could  have  thought  possi- 
ble, while  Mrs.  Bledsoe  seemed  to  have  petrified  with 
her  hand  clasped,  and  her  eyes  rolled  heavenward. 

"  Come  here  Arista  and  speak  to  your  father  ?  "  he 
said,  holding  out  his  hand  to  his  child  who  shrank, 
cowering  behind  the  chair  of  her  gasping  old  grand- 
father. "Its  a  very  hard  case  when  a  man's  own  child 
is  turned  against  him,"  he  added  with  a  touch  of  nature. 

"  AVhat  are  you  doing  here  ?  "  Mr.  Bledsoe  gasped 
faintly. 

"  I'm  in  a  devilish  tight  place  just  now\  It  was  acci- 
dental, my  stumbling  upon  you,  but  it  is  d — d  lucky. 
Don't  think  I  have  fallen  in  love  with  you  Eliza,  your 
voice  has  n't  changed  much  since  I  saw  you,  from  what 
I  caught  of  its  tones  with  your  mother,  and  I  can't  see 
that  your  beauty  is  improved  either.  That  expression 
on  your  face  is  quite  natural,"  said  Mr.  Skinker  tan- 
talizingiy,  incited  to  the  last  remark  by  the  look  of 
glowering  hatred  upon  Mrs.  Skinker's  face.  He  con- 
tinued, bowing  with  a  mock  air  of  deference  to  each  as 
he  spoke.     "  I  thought  that  my  affectionate  pa-in-law, 


78  THE  FEET  OF  CZA  T. 

and  my  venerated  ma-in-law  miglit  prefer  making  me  a 
little  present  rather  than  be  subjected  to  the  possibility 
of  some  developments  which  my  presence  may  bring  to 
light." 

"  Eliza,  take  the  child  out  of  the  room,"  said  Mr. 
Bledsoe. 

"  No  you  won't,"  said  Mr.  Skinker,  standing  before 
the  closed  door. 

''  For  God's  sake  let  the  child  go,"  said  Mr.  Bledsoe 
dreading  what  she  was  to  hear. 

"  Do  you  think  she  would  blab  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Skinker. 

"  Arista  go  to  your  grand-ma's  room,  and  don't  you 
speak  to  any  one  before  I  come,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker  in  a 
tone  that  assured  her  quondan  husband  that  she  would 
be  obeyed,  and  he  turned  the  key  and  opened  the  door 
wide  enough  for  the  child  to  squeeze  through,  glancing 
l)ack  as  she  did  so  with  a  look  of  terror  at  her  father,  as 
though  darkness  and  binish-neut  were  nothing  com- 
pared with  her  fear  of  him. 

"  Now,  the  sooner  we  transact  this  little  business  the 
better  for  all  parties,"  said  Mr.  Skinker,  relocking  the 
door.  "  It  is  important  that  I  should  get  away  from 
here  as  soon  as  possible,  unless  you  are  particularly 
anxious  to  have  me  stay,  and  I  advise  you  to  curb  your 
aifection  and  let  me  go,  and  ask  no  questions  either. 
'  Where  ignorance  is  bliss  'tis  folly  to  be  wise,'  you 
know.  But  I  have  got  to  have  some  money,  and  that 
right  away,  and  the  least  said  the  soonest  mended." 

"'  How  much  will  do  you  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Bledsoe  re- 
signedly, evidently  wishing  to  avoid  farther  informa- 
tion. 

"  Three  hundred  dollars  in  Confederate  money  and  a 
hundred  in  gold  or  greenbacks  might  do  ;  and  I  will 
pledge  myself  not  to  stop  within  Confederate  lines  lon- 
ger than  is  necessary  for  me  to  get  away." 

"  I  might  let  you  have  the  Confederate  money,  but  it 
is  impossible  for  me  to  get  the  greenbacks,"  said  the 
old  man. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  79 

"  You  can  give  me  an  order  upon  some  one  in  Fed- 
eral lines." 

"  I  can't  do  that,"  said  Mr.  Bledsoe,  shrinking  from 
committing  himself  upon  paper  to  this  man,  even  if  he 
could  have  commanded  the  money. 

'*  Don't  drive  me  to  resorting  to  what  I  did  last 
night,"  said  Mr.  Skinker  recklessly. 

Mrs.  Skinker's  mind  immediately  reverted  to  the 
sound  in  the  hall  the  night  before,  and  to  the  possibility 
that  he  might  have  knocked  some  one  down  with  the 
intention  of  robbing.  Aghast  at  the  thought  of  the 
disgrace  likely  to  attach  to  them  from  his  presence,  and 
from  farther  developments,  together  with  the  plans 
likely  to  be  disconcerted,  by  the  knowledge  of  liis  exist- 
ence, she  exclaimed. 

'•'-  For  the  Lord's  sake  pa,  give  him  the  money." 

"  It  is  something  new  to  have  you  on  my  side,  Eliza," 
said  Mr.  Skinker.  "  You  are  not  falling  in  love  with 
me  I  hope."  Mrs.  Skinker  glowering  upon  her  husband, 
made  no  reply. 

"  I  might  possibly  get  the  greenbacks,  but  it  would 
require  time,"  said  Mr.  Bledsoe. 

''  Well,  give  me  Confederate  mone}'  instead,  and  I 
will  take  my  chances  for  exchange,  but  I  must  have  ten 
to  one.     Make  it  ten  to  one  and  I  will  go." 

"  I  shall  have  to  go  and  see  if  I  can  raise  it,"  said 
Mr.  Bledsoe,  rising  wearily,  and  with  difficulty  ;  cough- 
ins^  as  he  moved  toward  the  door. 

"  I  will  go  with  you,"  said  Mr.  Skinker. 

"  No,  stay  here,  and  I  pledge  my  word  to  return  as 
soon  as  I  can  secure  the  money,"  said  Mr.  Bledsoe,  the 
fear  that  his  son-in-law  might  encounter  Dr.  Leigh  com- 
ing to  his  mind. 

Mr.  Skinker  permitted  the  old  man  to  pass  out,  look- 
ing unusually  worn  and  feeble  as  he  moved  slowl}'  on 
leaning  heavily  upon  his  cane,  and,  locking  the  door 
behind  him,  said,  ''  Eliza,  who  was  that  man  in  here  be- 
fore I  came?     His  voice  and  appearance  reminded  me 


80  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

of  Dr.  Leigh."  Mrs.  Skiiiker,  scowling  at  her  husband, 
made  no  reply. 

"  Don't  imagine  I  am  jealous,"  he  continued  taunt- 
ingly.    "  If  any  man  is  fool  enough  to  want  you 

he  can  have  you,  and  welcome.  I  could  n't  wish  sweeter 
revenge  upon  my  worst  enem}^  If  3^ou  and  my  ven- 
erated ma  could  n't  make  things  lively  for  him,  I  don't 
know  who  could,  your  temper  would  drive  any  man  to 
the  devil,"  and  he  laughed  a  sardonic  laugh. 

"  My  temper !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Skinker,  in  a  hissing 
tone,  livid  with  rage.  "Don't  try  to  put  your  deviltry 
upon  me.  When  I  first  laid  eyes  upon  you,  you  were 
a  fraud — a  swindler  and  a  gambler,  and  living  by  false 
pretences.  But  for  ma  I  would  never  have  been  fool 
enough  to  marry  you.  And  now  you  tiy  to  put  your 
rascality  upon  me.  God  knows  I  never  spent  your 
money.  And  pa  has  had  to  give  you  more  to  hide 
your  villainy  than  you  ever  spent  upon  me  and  3'our 
child.  And  now  you  come  here,  when  you  see  that  pa 
has  one  foot  in  the  grave,  and  take  the  very  bread  out 
of  our  mouths.  I  hope  to  the  Lord  that  this  is  the  last 
time  I  shall  ever  set  eyes  upon  you." 

"  That  wish  is  one  of  the  few  things  we  ever  agreed 
in.  I  can  assure  you  that  is  mutual.  Don't  imagine  I 
am  here  because  I  wanted  to  see  you.  I  happened 
here,  and  being  in  the  room  nearly  opposite,  recognized 
the  sweet  tones  of  your  voice  quarreling  with  your 
mother,  and  as  I  was  in  a  tight  fix  I  concluded  to  give 
you  the  privilege  of  paying  something  to  get  me  out  of 
your  neighborhood." 

Mr.  Bledsoe's  step  could  now  be  heard  approaching, 
and  tapping  feebly  at  the  door,  his  son-in-law  opened  it 
sus])iciously,  wide  enough  to  permit  him  to  enter. 

He  sank  into  a  chair  gasping  for  breath,  and,  drop- 
ping his  hat  and  cane  upon  the  floor  by  his  side  without 
a  word,  extended  the  package  of  money  to  Mr.  Skinker ; 
who  received  and  counted  it  in  a  business  way. 

Depositing  it  in  liis  breast  pocket,  Mr.  Skinker  rose, 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  81 

saying,  "  I  hope  your  temper  may  improve  before  I  see 
you  again,  Eliza.  I  think  if  that  wish  is  to  be  fulfilled 
we  are  not  likely  to  meet  this  side  of  Jordan.  By-by, 
ma,  don't  sniflie  when  I  am  gone,"  and  leaving  the  room 
he  crept  softly  through  the  hall  on  down  the  stairs. 

Instead  of  taking  the  cars,  however,  as  Dr.  Leigh  had 
supposed  he  Avould,  Mr.  Skinker  went  to  a  livery  stable 
near,  Avhere  the  evening  before  he  had  seen  a  beautiful 
thorough-bred  horse,  which  he  had  greatly  admired. 
Having  learned,  through  the  hostler,  to  whom  it  be- 
longed, it  being  Alert,  Aliena  Graeme's  beautiful  riding 
horse,  he  now  presented  a  forged  order  for  the  animal. 

The  groom  brought  the  horse  out,  and  Mr.  Skinker 
mounting,  rode  rapidly  off,  saying  as  he  left,  "  Alert, 
you  and  I  had  better  make  quick  time  out  of  this 
place." 

Hard  as  it  was  for  Dr.  Leigh  to  believe  that  Mr. 
Skinker  had  sunk  so  low,  he  could  not  but  believe,  from 
Aliena's  description,  from  the  handwriting  upon  the 
register  and  from  the  other  suspicious  circumstances, 
that  he  and  the  robber  were  identical.  Determined  to 
assure  himself  that  the  degraded  man  was  gone,  he 
drove  to  the  depot  for  that  purpose,  but  unavailingiy  as 
we  know. 

Having  returned  to  the  hotel  after  the  train  left,  Dr. 
Leigh  retired  to  his  room.  Annoyed  by  his  uncertainty 
as  to  the  movements  of  the  supposed  robber,  and  at  the 
apprehension  he  feared  Aliena  was  enduring,  he  deter- 
mined to  sit  up.  He  was  thus  sitting,  reading,  at  a  late 
hour  of  the  night,  when  a  hurried  step  and  rap  upon  his 
door  startled  him  into  renewed  anxiety  as  to  Aliena  or 
her  mother. 

Opening  the  door  a  servant  accosted  him,  saying, 
•^  Dr.  Leigh,  Mrs.  Bledsoe  says  please  come  there  quick 
— Mr.  Bledsoe  is  dying.  He  looks  monsus  like  it  sir," 
the  negro  added  of  his  own  volition. 

6 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

"  Sleep  hath  forsook  and  gi'en  me  o'er 
To  death's  benumbing  opium  as  my  cure, 
Thence  faintings,  svvounings  of  despair, 
And  sense  of  Heaven's  desertion." 

Milton  :  Sa]\[SOX  Agonistes. 

Aliena  Graeme  liad  for  some  reason  reacted  from  the 
state  of  exaltation  she  had  experienced  upon  Lookout 
mountain.  It  may  have  been  that  the  angel  of  death 
was  with  black,  brooding  wing,  hovering  over  and  dark- 
ening the  dismal  place,  where  a  remorseful  man  lay 
dying  ;  causing  the  most  indifferent  to  shudder  and  tread 
softly  before  the  great  mystery  of  death  enacting  here. 

Though  Aliena  found  occupation  in  ministering  with 
tenderest  care  to  her  mother  in  her  tedious  convales- 
cence ;  yet,  when  she  could,  she  stole  away  from  time  to 
time  to  visit  the  dying  man,  to  whom  her  presence 
seemed  especially  grateful.  But  there  were  moments 
of  stillness  and  inaction  when  her  mind  dwelt  with  cor- 
roding pain  upon  matters  concerning  herself ;  in  which 
was  mingled  a  curiously  remorseful  feeling. 

Aliena's  gentle  manner,  sympathetic  voice,  and  mag- 
netic presence  seemed  to  have  a  wonderfully  soothing 
effect  upon  Mr.  Bledsoe  ;  and  he  came  to  looking  anx- 
iously for  her  brief  visits.  She  was  not  surprised  there- 
fore when  one  night  she  was  summoned  to  his  dying 
bedside. 

She  could  not  but  be  awed  as  she  entered  the  dimly 
lighted  room  and  approached  the  dying  man,  about 
whom  she  had  a  dim  consciousness  that  others  were 
grouped.  Mr.  Bledsoe  appeared  to  have  grown  j^ears 
older  in  the  short  interval  since  she  had  seen  him  last. 
The  hectic  spot,  Avhich  had  at  times  relieved  his  death- 
like pallor,  was  gone.  His  emaciated  features  had  lost 
every  vestige  of  life  except  what  was  concentrated  in 
his  sunken,  restless,  burning  eyes. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  83 

"  Child,"  he  gasped  in  a  hoarse  whisper,  as  Aliena 
approached  his  bedside,  "  are  you  a  Christian  ?  " 

There  was  something  strangely  weird  and  startling 
in  being  brought  thus  to  confront  this  great  question, 
coming  as  it  were  from  the  other  side  of  the  tomb.  It 
had  such  a  profound  significance,  that  Aliena  hesitated 
to  re  pi}'. 

But  Mr.  Bledsoe  did  not  await  an  answer.  "As  a 
little  child,"  he  continued  in  that  labored,  sepulchral 
whisper,  his  eyes  rolling  more  restlessly  than  ever. 
"  Get  the  bible  there,"  he  said,  motioning  to  his  wife, 
who  moved  to  the  table  upon  which  it  lay,  though 
truly  seldom  read.  "  Give  it  to  her,"  he  added  pointing, 
with  his  long,  tieshless  finger  to  Aliena.  ''  Look,  find 
it,  '-  You  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon,'  read  it  to  me. 
The  time  is  short." 

Aliena  took  the  book  with  trembling  hands,  and 
turned  to  the  place.  But  she  hesitated  to  read,  as  she 
might  have  done  to  pronounce  doom  upon  a  criminal. 

''Read  it  child,  read  it.  I  have  no  time  to  lose," 
he  gasped. 

Dr.  Leigh's  eyes  resting  upon  her  seemed  to  strengthen 
lier  to  go  on.  And  Aliena  read  in  an  unnatural  tone 
of  dread  and  awe :  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters  ; 
for  either  he  will  hate  the  one  and  love  the  other ;  or 
else  he  will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other. 
Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon." 

'' '  He  will  hold  to  the  one.'  Yes,"  gasped  the  dying 
man.  "I  have  held  to  the  one.  It  is  a  straw  in  a 
drowning  man's  hand.  I  am  sinking  down — down — 
down — "  and  he  rolled  his  head  from  side  to  side,  his 
eyes  moving  despairingly  from  face  to  face  as  though 
seeking  help  or  consolation.  "'Ye  cannot  serve  God 
and  mammon.'  I  have  held  to  the  one  and  despised  the 
other.  It  is  too  late — too  late,"  he  said  in  a  despairing 
tone,  gasping  for  breath.  And  struggling  to  raise  him- 
self, his  eyes  seeking  Dr.  Leigh's  appealingly,  the  blood 
gurgled  in  his  throat  and  flowed  from  his  mouth. 


84  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T, 

Dr.  Leigh  raised  liim,  but  there  was  no  hope  in  his 
eyes  in  answer  to  the  appealing  look. 

When  he  could  speak  he  gasped  again,  addressing 
Aliena,  "I  am  dying,  child.  I  know  it.  Pray  for 
me — pray  for  me." 

Aliena,  transfixed,  bowed  her  face  in  her  hands,  pray- 
ing silently  from  the  depth  of  her  heart. 

''  Pray — pray  on — pray  for  me — there  is  no  time  to 
lose,"  he  gasped  wildly.     "  No  time  to  lose." 

Moved  by  liis  frantic  entreaties,  with  the  restless, 
dying  eyes  fixed  upon  her  in  despairing  appeal,  Aliena 
sank  upon  her  knees.  And,  buoj^ed  by  some  strange, 
mysterious  power,  she  prayed  in  a  low  voice  vibrant 
with  awe,  reverence  and  fervent  desire : 

"  Lord  God,  before  whom  angels  bow,  and  seraphim 
do  veil  their  faces,  yet  who  stoopest  to  hear  the  faintest 
cry  of  thy  stricken  ones,  look  down  in  thy  infinite  love 
and  compassion  upon  thy  servant  whom  thou  hast 
afflicted.  Give  him  strength  according  to  his  days.  If 
his  time  on  earth  be  short,  do  thou  grant  that  his  faith 
1)6  strong.  Hear  thou,  O  Lord  God,  in  Heaven,  thy 
dwelling-place,  and  hearing,  answer  liis  grief-stricken, 
penitential  cry.  Thou  who  didst  send  thine  only  Son 
to  bear  the  sins  of  the  world  upon  the  accursed  tree,  to 
whom  came  the  cry  of  agony,  '  Eloi,  eloi.  Lama  sa- 
bachthani,'  hear  the  forsaken  cry  of  thy  servant,  and 
shine  in  upon  him  with  the  light  of  thy  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Comforter,  wdiom  thou  didst  promise  to  send.  Blot 
out,  O  Lord,  our  Heavenly  Father,  his  sins  and  iniqui- 
ties from  the  book  of  thy  remembrance.  Clothe  him 
in  the  spotless  robe  of  thy  righteousness.  If  according 
to  thy  holy  will,  spare  his  life,  good  Lord.  But  if  liis 
days  on  earth  be  ended,  do  thou  grant  him  an  abundant 
entrance  into  that  blessed  abode  Avhere,  with  saints,  and 
angels,  and  archangels,  he  shall  cast  his  blood-bought 
crown  before  the  throne,  crying  '  Alleluia  !  salvation, 
and  glory,  and  honor,  and  power,  be  unto  the  Lord  our 
God,  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.'     Amen." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  85 

"He  is  gone,''  said  Dr.  Leigh  solemnly.  "Take  her 
from  the  room,"  motioning  to  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  who  had 
tottered  to  her  feet  with  a  dazed,  helpless  look.  Alie- 
na  put  her  arm  around  the  old  woman  and  led  her 
from  the  room. 

^  Late  as  it  was  when  Dr.  Leigh  retired  that  night  to 
his  room,  he  found  it  impossible  to  sleep.  Accustomed 
as  he  was  to  death,  that  of  Mr.  Bledsoe,  with  its  incon- 
gruous surroundings,  had  moved  him  strangely.  Illu- 
mining the  scene  to  him,  came  the  vision  of  Aliena's 
kneeling  form.  He  heard  again  and  again  the  tones  of 
that  low,  musical,  pleading  voice,  jiulsating  with  feeling  ; 
until  in  imagination,  she  seemed  to  rise  above  the  hu- 
manity of  her  surroundings ;  and  as  if  borne  upon  angel's 
wings  to  hover  about  him  in  sweetest  benediction,  min- 
gling at  length  in  his  dreams. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

"  Weighs  the  spread  wings,  at  leisure  to  behold 
Far  off  th'  empyreal  heaven  extended  wide ; 
With  opal  towers  and  battlements  adorned 
Of  living  sapphire — 
And  fast  by  hanging  in  a  golden  chain 
This  pendent  world." 

MiLTox:  Paradise  Lost. 

Lookout  mountain  had  seemed  to  Mrs.  Graeme's 
fevered  imagination  "  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a 
weary  land,"  while,  lying  sick  in  body  and  in  mind,  she 
liad  caught  glimpses  of  it  through  her  window.  She 
had  longed  for  its  cool,  invigorating  air,  and  for  ifs  clear, 
icy  springs.  And  now  that  she  had  grown  stronger  she 
had  determined  to  leave  Chattanooga  for  a  temporary  stay 
upon  its  summit.  She  felt  that  there  she  might  regain 
her  strength  sufficiently  to  resume  her  journey  once  nfore. 


86  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

As  Dr.  Leigh  accompanied  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena 
to  the  carriage  which  was  to  take  them  to  the  mount- 
ain, Hiigi,  wild  with  delight  at  recovered  freedom  from 
necessary  confinement,  bounded  around  them. 

Aliena,  stroking  the  dog's  head  as  he  fawned  upon 
her,  said,  "  It  is  hard  to  say  which  enjoys  freedom  most 
to-day,  Hugi,  you  or  I." 

Dr.  Leigh  looked  curiously  at  Aliena  as  she  said  this. 
She  may  have  read  his  thoughts,  as,  looking  back 
toward  the  dingy  old  hotel  she  said  with  a  sigh,  "  It  is 
sad  that  in  this  life  pain  and  pleasure  should  be  so 
commingled.  It  seems  impossible  to  leave  any  place 
without  regret,  no  matter  how  repulsive  it  may  have 
seemed  at  times.  Much  as  I  have  longed  to  be  on 
Lookout  mountain,  yet  I  cannot  leave  this  old  hotel 
without  a  pang." 

Dr.  Leigh  made  no  reply  unless  the  quick  look  of 
mingled  pain  and  pleasure  could  be  construed  as  such. 
Assfsting  them  silently  into  the  carriage  he  bade  them 
good-bye.  Looking  after  them  for  some  moments  as 
they  drove  away,  he  turned  and  went  back  to  his  dreary 
room. 

How  often  in  life  do  we  gaze  with  anxious  longing  at 
some  height,  whether  real  or  imaginary,  bathed  in  sun- 
shine, on  which  imagination  depicts  one's  self  disporting 
in  bliss,  not  less  illusive  than  the  phosphorescent  flicker 
of  the  dark  valley  below.  So  it  was  with  Aliena,  who, 
with  change  of  scene  had  hoped  to  find  renewed  happi- 
ness. Yet  after  the  first  great  pleasure  in  seeing  that 
her  mother  bade  fair  to  be  restored  to  her  usual  health 
through  the  exhilarating  mountain  air,  the  solicitude 
and  occupation  of  the  sick  room  gone,  she  sank  back  to 
a  feeling  of  isolation  and  loneliness  more  profound  even 
than  in  Chattanooga.  A  feeling  that  tinged  the  beauti- 
ful in  nature  by  which  she  was  surrounded  with  un- 
naturally somber  hues. 

Leaving  her  mother  when  she  could  she  walked  alone 
to  points  of  interest,  either  beautiful  in  themselves,  or 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  87 

commanding  views  of  the  valley ;  especially  to  the 
Point  of  Rocks,  which  seemed  to  have  taken  a  firm 
hold  upon  her  heart.  Here,  seated,  poised  as  it  were 
in  air,  she  gazed  at  the  scene  spread  out  before  her  with 
that  feeling  of  oppression  that  a  too  intense  perception 
of  the  sublime  sometimes  produces.  Feeling  as  though 
she  were  a  waif,  lloating  in  immensity,  with  a  great  God 
above,  the  Creator  of  worlds,  to  whom  she  seemed  but 
an  atom,  too  insignificant  for  especial  care  and  pro- 
tection, drifting  as  an  atom  might  in  ether,  help- 
lessly at  random,  tossed  hither  and  thither  by  blind 
chance. 

She  wondered  if  He  who  said  "  Let  there  be  light," 
and  the  great  suns  came  forth,  with  their  trains  of 
worlds,  and  satellites,  and  wild  flaming  comets  could  be 
looking  down  upon  her  yearning  heart.  Holding  it,  by 
iiitinitesimal,  electric  bonds,  in  live  sympathy  with  the 
Great  Life  Giver.  And  the  yearning  may  have  been  a 
prayer,  which  with  curiously  wonderful  power  moved 
the  Great  Heart  above  ;  as  she  usually  returned  strength- 
ened for  the  duties  of  life. 

Dr.  Leigh  came  at  first  ostensibly  to  visit  Mrs. 
Graeme,  but  he  .continued  his  visits,  at  intervals,  when 
she  could  no  longer  have  needed  his  care.  He  went 
with  Aliena  occasionally,  when  he  could  command  time 
from  hospital  duties,  to  see  objects  of  interest  upon  the 
mountain.  The  waterfall,  the  lake,  the  city  of  rocks, 
or  more  aptly  the  Mausoleums  of  the  gods.  Enteruig 
this  last  through  the  apparent  ruins  of  a  gigantic 
overarched  gateway,  guarded  perpetually  by  monster 
images  in  stone.  Dr.  Leigh  and  xVliena  walked  in 
awed  silence  through  the  still,  deserted  streets ;  along 
which  one  might  well  imagine  a  solemn  procession,  in 
the  days  when  the  "  sons  of  God  took  to  themselves  the 
daughters  of  men,  and  there  were  giants  upon  the 
earth  ;  "  moving  to  some  grand  requiem  of  nature,  con- 
veying to  their  resting  places  those  who  had  fallen  in 
defense  of  this  great  old  bulwark.     Here  they  may  still 


8S  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

be  lying,  where  the  eternal  rocks  uprear  their  heads  in 
monumental  gloom. 

Rumors  from  the  front  of  the  contemplated  falling 
back  of  the  army,  soon  became  rife ;  causing  Dr.  Leigh 
to  think  painfully  of  his  final  separation  from  Aliena, 
which  would  thus  apparently  be  made  inevitable.  This 
thought  recalled  in  full  force  those  feelings  he  had  been 
endeavoring  to  combat,  and  made  him  hopeless  of  the 
possibility  of  success  in  stifling  them.  He  found  that 
in  reality,  the  bond  Avhich  held  him  had  acquired  new 
strength,  that  it  fettered  him  more  firmly  even  than 
when  he  had  last  permitted  himself  to  analyze  his  feel- 
ings. 

The  position  of  protector  to  Aliena  had  at  first  been 
thrust  upon  him  by  circumstances,  but  he  had  continued 
to  assume  this  position  even  after  their  removal  to 
Lookout  mountain,  when  it  had  apparently  been  unnec- 
essary. It  had  now  become  to  him  a  sweet  privilege, 
one  that  he  could  not  willingly  bring  himself  to  sur- 
render. 

Dr.  Leigh  had  rashly  ai;d  persistently  put  himself  in 
the  way  of  having  the  chains  which  bound  him  more 
firmly  iiveted  by  constant  companionship  with  Aliena. 
Here  the  latent  depths  of  her  nature  had  been  stirred 
and  evolved  by  communion  with  all  that  was  beautiful 
in  nature,  and  in  sympathetic  companionship  with  one, 
whose  profound  perceptions  and  intense  emotions 
aroused  her  to  even  greater  depths  of  feeling  than  she 
might  otherwise  have  attained.  Associated  as  she  had 
thus  become,  with  all  that  Avas  beautiful  by  which 
they  had  been  surrounded,  the  impress  of^  Aliena's 
charms  had  become  even  more  enduring  in  this  remem- 
brance. 

It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  though  Dr.  Leigh  had 
promised  to  keep  Mrs.  Graeme  posted  as  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  army,  as  affecting  her  own,  that  he  should 
have  hesitated  until  he  felt  constrained  to  do  so  by  the 
rumors  rife  as  to  the  contemplated  retreat  of  the  army. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  89 

Reckless  now,  at  the  prospect  of  separation  Dr.  Leigh 
could  not  forego  the  happiness  of  seeing  Aliena.  And 
that  afternoon,  as  soon  as  his  hospital  duties  would 
permit,  he  drove  to  Lookout  mountain. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

"All  heaven  and  earth  are  still,  though  not  in  sleep. 
But  breathless  as  we  grow  when  feeling  most, 
And  silent  as  we  stand  in  thoughts  too  deep ; — 
All  concentrated  in  a  life  intense, 
Wlien  not  a  beam,  nor  air,  nor  leaf  is  lost 
But  hath  a  part  of  being." 

Byron:    Childe  Harold. 

At  Lookout  mountain,  Dr.  Leigh  soon  proposed  to 
Aliena  to  walk  to  the  Point  of  Rocks.  A  spot  indissolu- 
bly  connected  in  his  memory  with  her  glowing  face,  as 
she  had  stood  there  with  him  the  evening  of  their  first 
visit,  radiant  with  a  sense  of  enjoyment  that  had  seemed 
to  flash  out  in  sentient  beauty  in  her  face,  and  to  per- 
vade her  whole  being. 

Hugi,  who  also  seemed  to  have  accepted  Dr.  Leigh 
as  a  friend,  joined  them,  keeping  in  advance ;  his  great 
intelligent  eyes  looking  as  though  he  thoroughly  ap- 
preciated his  opportunity  for  aesthetic  enjoyment. 

They  walked  slowly  at  first,  but,  inspired  with  that 
buoj'ancy  of  spirit  natural  to  Aliena  before  the  evil 
days  of  sorrow,  she  quickened  her  steps,  which  aided  in 
l)roducing  an  exhilaration  that  added  to  her  beauty. 
Aloving  with  that  flexible  grace  which  characterized 
her  every  motion,  she  climbed  the  massive  rocks,  or 
bounded  from  stone  to  stone  ;  Dr.  Leigh  quickening  his 
movements  with  corresponding  animation. 

Hugi  evidently  enjoyed  this  much  more  than  the 
staid  pace  at  which  they  had  started.     He  leaped  and 


90  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

bounded  on  before  them,  or  turning  retraced  his  steps 
with  equal  rapidity;  speeding  over  the  ground  and 
rocks  with  a  grace  which  made  him  a  picture  of  canine 
beauty,  his  great  eyes  appealing  now  and  then  to  Aliena 
for  word  or  caress  of  approval. 

Reaching  the  Point  of  Rocks,  Aliena  took  her  favorite 
seat  at  the  extreme  verge,  Dr.  Leigh  seating  himself 
beside  her. 

He  could  not  but  feel  oppressed  with  the  thought 
which  came  over  him  now%  that  it  might  be  for  the  last 
time  that  he  Avas  enjoying  what  he  felt  to  be  the  great- 
est privilege  that  earth  could  afford  him.  The  undi- 
vided companionship  of  her  for  whom,  of  all  the  world, 
his  whole  being  yearned,  surrounded  as  they  were  by 
everything  in  nature  to  incite  to  grand  and  elevated 
thought. 

It  was  as  though  in  the  voyage  of  life,  w^hen  his  bark 
liad  been  shattered  and  stranded  when  bruised  and 
torn  until  life  seemed  a  burden,  he  might  gladly  have 
laid  down;  that  he  had  awakened  to  consciousness,  not 
solitary  and  alone,  but  transported  to  a  sun-capped 
height,  and  to  the  companionship  of  a  woman  perfect  in 
his  eyes  as  was  the  first  woman,  fresh  from  the  hands 
of  her  Creator.  A  happiness  more  exquisite  than  that  of 
Paradise  itself,  in  that  he  had  known  disappointment 
and  suffering. 

Dr.  Leigh's  experience  in  life  had  taught  him  a  self- 
abnegation  rarely  found  in  man.  Aliena's  happiness 
was  pre-eminent  with  him.  Passionately  as  he  yearned 
to  possess  her,  to  carry  her  as  a  ewe  lamb  in  his  bosom, 
slie  must  gladly  nestle  there.  Oppressed  more  with 
these  thoughts,  than  with  the  view  spread  out  before 
them  he  did  not  speak. 

They  sat  silent  for  some  time.  The  soft  air  was 
coming  in  fitful  waves  to  them  from  below.  Far  away 
was  the  lovely  valley  of  the  Tennessee,  the  sunlit  mount- 
ain-tops outlined  in  dazzling  gold  near  the  horizon. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  9l 

"  It  is  delightful  at  times  to  feel  that  one  lives,"  said 
Aliena  at  length,  in  a  tone  of  exquisite  satisfaction. 

"  You  say  that  as  though  you  might  sometimes  have 
doubted  the  fact.  I  scarcely  supposed  that  you  could 
ever  have  thought  otherwise,"  said  Dr.  Leigh. 

Aliena  looked  at  him  earnestly  and  with  some  sur- 
prise, as  she  replied,  "  Did  you  think  it  possible  for  me 
to  have  lived,  even  as  short  a  time  as  I  have  done,  with- 
out occasion  to  doubt  that  fact  ?  " 

"  I  had  hoped  so,  at  least,  and  I  still  hope  the  times 
are  exceptional  when  life  is  not  a  happiness  to  you. 
Though  my  experience  seems  exceptionally  the  other 
way,"  he  added  sadly. 

Aliena  had  so  rarely  heard  Dr.  Leigh  allude  to  him- 
self, that  unconsciously  she  had  almost  lost  sight  of  the 
fact  that,  despite  the  strength  of  his  apparently  self- 
sustained  manhood,  while  caring  for  and  sympathizing 
with  others  he  too  might  feel  the  need  of  sympathy  and 
tenderness.  His  tone  as  much  as  his  words  pained  her. 
And  she  said  earnestly  : 

"  I  thought  you  could  alwa^'s  find  pleasure  in  life,  if 
only  in  the  happiness  of  others — you  seem  to  give  3'our- 
self  up  so  entirely  to  that  object.  I  am  sure  I  cannot 
tell  what  we  should  have  done  Avithout  you,  and  I  can 
never  forget  that  I  am  probably  indebted  to  you  for  not 
being  desolate  indeed  in  mother's  death,"  said  Aliena, 
her  sympathy  and  gratitude  giving  her  voice  and  man- 
ner unusual  warmth  as  she  spoke. 

"I  experience  now  one  of  those  exceptional  moments. 
If  my  life  has  conduced  to  a  moment's  happiness  to  you 
it  has  not  proved  altogether  a  failure." 

There  w^as  a  depth  of  feeling  in  Dr.  Leigh's  voice  that 
struck  painfully  upon  Aliena,  and  glancing  around  from 
the  scene  she  met  his  impassioned  eyes  fixed  yearningly 
upon  her.  The  delicate  pink  came  suddenly  to  her  face 
and  white  throat  as  the  painful  thought  flashed  through 
her  mind.     "  He  may  care  too  much  for  my  happiness." 

Dr.  Leigh  saw  the  sudden  flush  that  beautified  her 


92  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

face,  as  well  as  the  look  of  pained  tenderness  that  ac- 
companied the  thought — as  for  an  instant  her  beautiful, 
sorrowful  eyes  met  his,  and  he  felt  that  she  compre- 
hended him. 

But  Aliena,  endeavoring  to  banish  this  thought,  as  a 
coinage  of  her  imagination,  said,  "  How  is  it  possible 
that  a  life  of  high  intent,  with  the  capability  for  doing 
so  much  for  humanity,  can  be  a  failure  ?  Look  at  what 
you  are  doing,  not  only  for  our  country,  but  for  each 
individual  in  your  hospital  work.  And,  if  personally 
you  are  as  good  to  them  as  you  have  unfailingly  been 
to  mother  and  myself  and  to  the  other  sufferers  that  I 
have  seen  you  with,  you  can  have  no  right  to  think  life 
a  failure." 

Dr.  Leigh  felt  that  Aliena  was  trying  to  comfort  him 
in  the  only  direction  that  seemed  open  to  him,  and  he 
replied  in  a  voice  full  of  pathos,  "  A  life  of  duty  is 
certainly  the  highest  possible.  But  whether  a  life  of 
duty — coldly  duty,  is  possible  to  man — is  doubtful. 
The  heart  thrown  back  upon  itself  slowly  suffers  petri- 
faction. A  mechanical  act,  of  goodness  even,  has  no 
charm.  The  warmth  of  vitality  alone  can  give  the 
power  truly  to  succor  and  comfort." 

"But  I  cannot  think  it  possible  your  heart  could  ever 
undergo  petrifaction  with  the  constant  attrition  of 
good  deeds  wearing  against  what,  at  its  worst,  could 
only  be  a  superficial  hardening.  It  must  give  way  and 
allow  the  kind,  warm,  palpitating  heart  to  come  to  life 
again,"  said  Aliena  in  a  voice  tremulous  with  feeling. 

Dr.  Leigh  felt  now  as  though  there  was  scarcely  pet- 
rifaction enough  to  prevent  the  fullness  of  liis  heart 
from  crying  out,  or  to  keep  him  from  passionately  clasp- 
ing her  to  his  heart.  But  reading  a  negation  in  the  sad, 
tender  face  before  him,  he  said,  "  I  shall  strive  to  keep 
alive  whatever  there  is  of  good  in  my  heart.  I  shall 
need  it.  My  profession  gives  me  opportunity  for  duty, 
at  least.  I  shall  count  it  as  amongst  its  privileges  to 
have  made  me  know  you.     If  I  should  falter  in  duty  at 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  93 

any  time,  it  will  strengthen  me  to  think  I  have  done 
what  you  would  have  commended." 

''  You  are  so  far  beyond  me  in  goodness  that  it  pains 
me  to  think  how  unworthy  I  am  of  such  an  estimate. 
But  I  shall  try  to  bring  myself  to  a  standard  worthy  of 
your  appreciation,"  Aliena  replied,  her  voice  faltering, 
and  tears  welling  to  the  tender  brown  eyes,  as  a  sense  of 
wrong  in  some  way  done  to  Dr.  Leigh  pained  her  heart. 

"  It  seems  almost  profanation  for  you  to  rank  your- 
self as  you  are  doing,"  said  Dr.  Leigh  in  a  low,  pained 
voice,  noting  the  suffering  mirrored  in  Aliena's  sensitive 
face. 

She  turned  once  more  toward  the  scene  before  her,  to 
Avhich  she  was  evidently  now  oblivious ;  a  sad,  far-away 
expression  clouding  her  face. 

Both  were  silent  for  a  time.  Aliena  said  at  length 
with  a  sigh,  -^  I  thought  we  were  going  to  be  so  happy 
here  this  beautiful  evening,  lifted  so  far  above  humanity," 
and  she  glanced  down  at  Chattanooga  far  away  in  the 
valley,  "  with  this  delightful  air  to  breathe,  and  with 
everything  beautiful  in  nature  surrounding  us.  And 
yet  I  feel  wretched — and  I  don't  know  why." 

''  There  are  visible  and  invisible  deaths.  In  spirit  we 
unconsciously  kneel  beside  invisible  death-beds.  Pray 
to  God  that  the  dead  may  sleep  tranquilly  in  their 
graves  ;  and  not  start  constantly  to  life,  phantoms  paral- 
yzing energy,"  said  Dr.  Leigh  in  a  tone  of  such  profound 
earnestness  and  sorrow  that  Aliena  shuddered  at  the 
vague  emotion  produced. 

Her  voice  trembled  as  she  replied,  ''  Dr.  Leigh,  3'ou 
are  nearer  being  cruel  to  me  than  I  thought  you  could 
be.  It  makes  me  shudder  to  hear  you  talk  that  w^ay. 
I  feel  as  though  haunted  by  ghostly  phantoms  now." 

''  God  forbid  that  you  should  ever  be  cognizant  of  a 
death  like  that,"  he  said  with  profound  sadness.  "But 
forgive  me  if  I  am  selfish,  and  cruel  to  you.  It  is  the 
last  thing  I  intended." 

"  I  should  rather  ask  you  to  forgive  me  for  saying 


94  .         THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

what  I  did.  I  know  you  do  not  want  to  be  cruel  to  me. 
But — but — "  she  said  w^ith  a  quiver  about  her  mouth 
and  a  pathetic  tremor  in  her  voice,  and  the  big  tears 
escaped  from  under  the  long  lashes  and  rolled  over  her 
white  cheeks. 

Dr.  Leigh,  instantly  forgetting  his  own  pain  in  Ali- 
ena's,  said  with  infinite  tenderness,  "  If  I  have  caused 
that  feeling  I  shall  never  forgive  myself.  As  God  knows 
my  heart  my  desire  is  for  your  happiness  beyond  every- 
thing in  this  world." 

Aliena  knew  now  to  what  death  Dr.  Leigh  referred. 
His  voice  and  manner  left  little  room  for  doubt.  The 
profoundest  depths  of  her  heart  were  stirred  by  the 
pain  she  felt  his  great  heart  was  enduring,  and  her  own 
feeling  was  too  deep  for  utterance. 

The  sun  Avas  setting  big  and  red  in  the  hazy  air. 
The  full  moon  coming  up  shed  a  subdued  light  that 
mingled  with  the  twilight.  Hugi  hearing  hounds  bay- 
ing upon  the  mountain  sped  off  to  join  in  their  pursuit 
of  the  deer. 

It  seemed  to  Aliena  that  an  interminable  time  had 
intervened  since  Dr.  Leigh  had  spoken.  Interminable 
in  the  pain  and  remorse  with  which  she  was  tortured  at 
thought  of  the  sorroAV  she  had  unconsciously  caused. 
So  poor  a  return  for  all  his  goodness  to  her.  Apoli>geti- 
cally  she  wished  to  fall  at  his  feet,  to  bathe  them  with 
her  tears,  to  implore  his  forgiveness,  to  tell  him  of  her 
plighted  troth.  To  Dr.  Leigh  the  time  seemed  not  less 
interminable,  measured  by  pain,  since  he  felt  assured 
that  hope  was  gone. 

He  first  broke  the  silence.  ''Will  you  remember,*' 
he  said,  "  that  no  time  or  circumstances  can  make  me 
regard  your  happiness  less.  And  will  you  promise  me 
that  if  you  should  ever  need  a  friend  you  will  allow  me 
the  privilege  of  acting  as  one  ?  " 

"  It  does  not  need  that  I  should  promise  you  that. 
Nothing  could  shake  my  trust  in  you,"  said  Aliena 
earnestly. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  95 

''But  promise  me,  nevertheless,"  he  said. 

"I  do  trust  you,  and  always  shall,  and  should  I 
ever  need  a  friend  I  will  gladly  call  upon  you,"  said 
Aliena  with  a  quivering  voice,  raising  her  sorrow^ful, 
trustful  eyes  to  his. 

Dr.  Leigh  driving  in  the  still  moonlight  from  the 
height,  real  and  figurative,  to  which  hope  had  lured 
liim,  endeavored  to  stifle  the  anguish  lie  felt.  An  an- 
guish tliat  even  tlie  calmest  philosopher  has  found  it 
iiard  to  endure.  The  dreariness  of  life  oppressed  him. 
lie  thought  of  the  Point  of  Rocks  where  the  slightest 
volition  could  have  made  it  easy  to  plunge  into  futurity. 
•'  It  is  the  part  of  manhood  to  live,"  he  thought,  "  to 
act.  I  must  wrap  my  mantle  about  the  rankling 
woinid,  and  go  on  enduring.  Some  bane  follows  my 
existence.  I  have  not  the  power  to  kindle  love.  I 
have  borne  the  pain  of  disappointment  before.  I  must 
bear  it  again.  Though  I  never  loved  as  I  do  now. 
That  was  a  passionate  first  love  it  is  true,  but  my  judg- 
ment, the  inmost  depths  of  my  being  cry  out  for  the 
love,  the  tenderness  and  sympathy  which  I  might  find 
here.  But  I  must  find  refuge  in  duty.  Duty?  it  is 
crying  for  bread  and  getting  a  stone.  Yet  I  shall  try 
to  live  upon  it." 

And  he  drove  back  to  his  hospital  and  to  duty  going 
attentively  through  each  ward,  seeing  that  each  patient's 
wants  were  cared  for,  Avith  even  more  of  the  feeling  of 
brotherhood  to  humanity  than  ever,  before  abandoning 
himself  to  a  night  of  sleepless  agony. 


96  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

"  Long  as  you're  false  and  he  believes  you, 
Long  as  you  trust  and  he  deceives  you, 
So  long  the  blissful  bond  endures." 

And  still  the  wearisome  firing  went  on  in  Vicks- 
burg,  day  after  day  and  night  after  night.  Lulling  per- 
haps, comparatively,  for  hours  during  the  day,  but  kept 
up  steadily  at  night,  and  especially  during  those  early 
hours  of  the  morning,  from  two  or  three  to  hve,  hours 
of  watchfulness,  apprehension  and  duty,  the  most  tire- 
some and  exhausting. 

Hope,  which  from  day  to  day  had  buoyed  the  hearts 
of  the  besieged,  grew  fainter  and  iainter.  The  lack  of 
proper  food  was  telling,  not  only  upon  the  body,  but  in 
dispiriting  effect  upon  the  mind  of  even  the  boldest. 
Though  they  suffered  with  fortitude,  and  even  pretended 
to  make  light  of  their  privations. 

"  (lood-morning,  Colonel,"  said  Colonel  Sturdy vant, 
meeting  Colonel  Harvey  one  evening.  '-'-  You  are  getting 
as  lean  and  hungry  looking  as  a  greyhound.  Can't  you 
come  around  and  take  breakfast  with  us  in  the  morning  ? 
We  are  to  have  some  fresh  steak.  You  look  like  a  few 
pounds'  might  not  come  amiss.'' 

''  I  am  beginning  to  be  a  little  wolf.sh,"  Colonel  Harvey 
responded.  "  I  shall  be  on  hand  unless  a  shot  or  shell 
has  done  for  me.     At  what  hour  do  you  breakfast  ?  " 

"At  nine,  guns  permitting.  I  shall  tell  our  cook  to 
put  your  name  in  the  pot,  so  be  sure  to  come." 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning.  Colonel  Harvey  was 
punctual  to  time  at  Colonel  Sturdy  vant's  quarters.  They 
were  decidedly  more  comfortable  than  the  sort  of  wig- 
wam of  brush,  of  which  Colonel  Harvey  boasted.  The 
former,  with  his  brother  officers,  having  taken  posses- 
sion of  a  luxurious  home,  vacated  by  a  citizen,  near 
their  fort.  INIajor  Baron,  who  was  one  of  the  mess,  was 
present.     His  handsome  face  and  vigorous  form  were  in 


TBE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  97 

apparently  good  condition  in  spite  of  privation,  he 
looked  little  like  lie  was  on  short  rations. 

When  breakfast  was  announced,  Colonel  Sturdyvant 
led  the  way  to  the  breakfast-room,  doing  the  honors. 
Here  a  table  with  plates  for  twelve  w^as  set  out  in  some- 
thing of  home  style,  if  a  meal  under  the  supervision 
of  men  can  ever  be  said  to  be  in  home  style.  Upon 
one  end  of  the  table  was  a  smutty-looking  tin  coffee- 
pot, containing  so-called  coffee.  A  concoction  from  a 
compound  of  coffee,  in  iniinitesimal  proportion,  and 
parched  meal,  to  be  sweetened  with  burnt  sugar,  to 
carry  out  a  supposed  illusion  as  to  that  fragrant  berry. 
The  coffee,  even  in  the  small  proportion  expected,  fell 
short,  from  the  nimble,  flagitious  fingers  of  the  negro 
cook,  who,  not  liking  his  mixed,  with  prudent  fore- 
thought retained  what  he  wished  for  his  own  purposes, 
before  making  it  for  the  mess.  Two  plates  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  table  were  piled  wdtli  biscuits,  having  a  curi- 
ous gray  tinge,  caused  by  the  flour  being  mixed  with 
meal  made  from  beans.  Two  other  plates  contained 
what  is  familiarly  known  as  corn  dodgers  ;  a  bread  made 
of  meal  mixed  with  water,  formed  into  small  pones  and 
baked  slowly,  a  process  by  which  they  became  so  hard 
as  to  make  them  a  dangerous  missile,  to  wdiich  fact 
they  are  possibly  indebted  for  their  name. 

At  the  end  of  the  table,  opposite  to  where  the  coffee- 
pot stood,  was  placed  a  scanty  dish  of  fried  bacon  and 
another  of  tempting  looking  steak,  so  Colonel  Harvey 
thought,  at  least. 

Colonel  Sturdyvant  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the 
talkie,  and  proceeded  to  help  from  the  dishes  of  meat 
before  him.  Colonel  Harvey  as  a  guest  was  of  course 
first  attended  to. 

''  Colonel,  will  3'ou  have  some  bacon  or  some  of  the 
steak?"  he  asked. 

''  I  will  take  some  steak,  thank  jo\x.  I  have  been  on 
bacon  until  nature  rebels,"  said  Colonel  Harvey  with  a 
freedom  warranted  by  the  times. 


98  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"The  reheVs  nature  is  getting  starved  out  of  me 
pretty  rapidly,"  said  Captain  Berry  facetiously,  a  dap- 
per looking  young  officer  who  was  also  one  of  the 
mess. 

"  I  have  a  notion  to  punish  you  for  that  villainous 
pun,  by  not  letting  you  have  any  of  the  steak,"  said 
Colonel  Sturdyvant. 

A  remark  which  was  followed  by  more  laughter,  as 
Colonel  Harvey  thought,  than  it  seemed  to  warrant. 
He  noticed,  also,  that  singularly  the  officers  appeared  to 
prefer  bacon  to  the  steak,  though  that  was  of  a  very 
inferior  quality  and  small  in  quantity ;  yet  one  or  two 
Avho  had  taken  steak  ate  gingerly  of  it ;  even  Colonel 
Sturdyvant,  who  had  advanced  boldly  to  the  attack,  had 
stopped  with  one  mouthful. 

"  You  must  be  more  accustomed  to  fresh  meat  than 
we  are  up  at  our  end  of  the  line,  you  don't  seem  to  ap- 
preciate steak,"  said  Colonel  Harvey. 

There  was  an  exchange  of  glances  and  a  repressed 
tendency  to  smile,  which  Colonel  Harvey  noticed,  and 
he  added,  "  It  is  true  our  beef  is  not  A^ery  tejider  just 
now,  but  we  cannot  expect  Texas  cattle  to  keep  as  fat 
upon  the  scorched  Bermuda  grass  that  is  left  upon  these 
hills  as  upon  Texas  grass  which  reaches  to  their  bellies. 
They  are  not  sensible  enough  to  accommodate  them- 
selves to  circumstances,  and  refuse  corn.  But  to  one 
who  has  been  as  long  as  I  have  on  half  rations  of  rusty 
bacon  and  bean  bread,  this  is  not  so  bad." 

This  was  more  than  some,  who  were  in  the  secret, 
could  stand,  and  laying  down  their  knives  and  forks, 
tbey  burst  into  a  chorus  of  laughter,  in  spite  of  Colonel 
Sturdy vant's  signs  to  the  contrary,  who  said,  trying  to 
keep  his  countenance,  "  I  am  glad  you  like  the  steak  so 
well,  Colonel." 

Colonel  Harvey  put  down  his  fork,  with  the  morceau 
which  he  had  been  in  the  act  of  transporting  to  his 
mouth  still  on  it.  He  looked  quizzed  and  dubious  for 
the  moment,  for  rumors  of  mule  steak  had  circulate(? 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  99 

through  camp,  though  he  had  not  miagined  it  sufficiently 
in  vogue  to  be  introduced  in  such  high  quarters  as  yet. 

''Is  this  mule?"  he  asked  dubiously,  stroking  his 
beard,  and  looking  a  little  aghast. 

Such  a  hilarious  peal  of  laughter  followed  this  ques- 
tion, that  it  did  not  need  Captain  Berry's  reply  as  he 
sang  out  in  a  quizzical  tone  above  the  noise,  "  Here  's 
your  mule,"  to  inform  him  of  the  fact. 

Recovering  from  his  first  feeling  of  repugnance  and 
not  to  be  outdone,  Colonel  Harvey  said  ; 

"  It  is  better  than  rusty  bacon  any  way,  and  I  will 
pledge  myself  to  eat  mule  steak  for  the  balance  of  my 
days  rather  than  surrender  Vicksburg,"  and  he  put  the 
morsel  in  his  mouth  and  applied  his  fine  teeth  vigorously 
to  its  mastication,  amidst  a  round  of  applause. 

"  It  is  only  an  idea  after  all,"  said  Colonel  Sturdy  van  t. 
"It  is  not  as  bad  as  the  bean  bread."  Encouraged  by 
this  several  of  the  officers  tried  tlie  steak,  but  all  soon 
broke  dow^n  in  the  patriotic  effort. 

Major  Baron  had  not  brought  himself  to  mule  steak 
yet,  or  in  fact  to  partaking  largely  of  anything  else 
upon  the  table,  Colonel  Harvey  wondered  under  the 
circumstances  that  he  looked  so  fresh  and  in  such  good 
condition.  Commenting  upon  this  fact.  Captain  Berry 
responded  for  Major  Baron  : 

"  Aha !  you  let  Baron  alone  for  that  sort  of  thing. 
Don't  believe  he  is  living  on  as  short  commons  as  he 
lets  on.  You  may  rest  assured  he  has  some  '  under- 
ground '  arrangement." 

"  What  is  the  use  of  a  man's  being  good  looking  if  he 
can't  make  it  pay  ?  "  said  ^Major  Baron  smiling,  sell- 
complacently  and  twirling  his  mustache. 

"You  are  a  lucky  dog.  You  always  manage  to  get 
ahead  of  the  rest  of  us,  particularly  if  there  is  a  woman 
in  the  case,"  said  Colonel  Sturdy vant. 

"  Did  I  say  I  got  any  advantage  ?  "  said  Major  Baron 
with  the  same  air. 

"  The   conceited   puppy,"   thought    Captain    Berry, 


100  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T, 

whose  mind  reverted  jealously  to  Lilian  Selwyn.  "  It 
would  be  a  good  thing  if  some  shot  or  shell  spoiled  his 
good  looks,  and  took  the  conceit  out  of  him." 

The  firing  having  increased,  the  meal  was  cut  short 
and  the  party  separated  for  duty. 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  bombardment  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day,  and  Major  Baron,  looking  exceedingly 
trim  as  well  as  very  handsome  in  his  closely  fxtting  uni- 
form, buttoned  over  his  fine  form,  mounted  his  horse 
and  rode  ofP.  His  horse  even  Avas  looking  more  spirited 
and  in  better  condition  than  Avas  usual  at  this  time. 
Owing  possibly  to  tact  in  foraging  in  the  servant  who 
tended  him,  as  well  as  in  the  master.  The  horse  appar- 
ently divined  his  destination  as  he  stopped,  seemingly 
of  his  own  accord,  in  front  of  a  cottage  of  irregular  de- 
sign, with  gables  running  up  here  and  there,  and  little 
galleries  jutting  out  on  all  sides,  over-run  with  vines 
and  surrounded  by  flowers.  As  the  servant  who  an- 
swered the  bell  ushered  ^Major  Baron  in,  he  glanced 
complacently  at  himself  in  the  mirror  of  the  rack  as  he 
placed  his  hat  there,  and  walked  on  into  the  dimly 
lighted  luxurious  parlor. 

Lilian  Selw3'n  must  have  been  expecting  him,  as  she 
was  risking  something  in  being  at  home  instead  of  in 
their  cave,  as  she  usually  was.  Besides,  she  was  in  a 
fresh  and  charmingly  becoming  toilet.  She  wore  a 
sheer  white  muslin  dress,  sprinkled  apparently  Avith  her 
favorite  blue  convolvulus,  so  perfectly  were  the  flowers 
painted  upon  the  organdie.  Her  golden  curls  were  tied 
loosely  back  with  pale  blue  ribbon,  that  corresponded  in 
color  Avith  the  flowers  of  her  dress.  In  her  bosom  Avere 
two  or  three  creamy  fragrant  tea-rose  buds.  Taking 
her  hand  in  salutation  Major  Baron  seemed  in  no  hurry 
to  release  it,  as  they  seated  themseh'es  upon  one  of  the 
little  damask  cushioned  sofas. 

Gazing  at  Lilian's  face  and  person  Avith  rather  an 
audacious  look  of  fixed  admiration,  Major  Baron  said, 
*'  You  are  looking  as  fresh  and  lovely  this  morning  as 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  101 

tlie  morning  glories  with  which  you  are  sprinkled. 
Burrowing  under  ground  would  seem  to  be  your  normal 
condition." 

"  Maybe  I  don't  burrow,  as  you  call  it,  so  much  as 
you  would  think.  I  am  getting  quite  brave  under  fire 
now.  I  am  not  nearly  such  a  coward  as  I  Avas  the  night 
we  ran  away  in  such  a  fright  from  the  party.  Thouo-h 
mamma  and  papa  think  it  dreadful  that  I  will  expo'^se 
myself  to  danger  as  I  do.  But  you  must  n't  keep  telling 
me  that  I  am  lovely,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  or  you 
will  make  me  believe  you  think  it,  after  awhile,"  said 
Lilian,  looking  coquettishly  into  Major  Baron's  face  and 
casting  her  eyes  down  with  prettily  assumed  covness. 

'^  \  ou  know  already  that  you  are  beautiful.  It  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  tell  you  that  fact.  If  you  don't 
beheve  me,  just  make  a  looking-glass  of  my  eyes  and 
see  tor  yourself,"  he  said,  moving  nearer  to  her,  and 
proffering  his  eyes  as  a  mirror.  Lilian,  with  a  pretty, 
coquettish  air,  leaned  forward  and  smilingly  gazed  into 
his  blue  eyes. 

"  If  that  is  not  a  beautiful  picture  it  is  the  fault  of 
the  mirror,"  he  continued,  possessing  himself  again  of 
the  soft,  white  hand.  But  Lilian,  repulsing  him,  rose  and 
seated  herself  in  a  chair  at  a  little  distance  from  him. 
^  "Come  back  here,"  said  Major  Baron,  half  jDlead- 
mgly  and  half  commandingly,  retaining  his  half  lolling 
position.  ^ 

"I  shan't,"  she  said,  glancing  up  coquettishly,  and 
taking  a  rose  from  the  vase  on  the  table  by  her  side, 
she  pulled  it  to  pieces,  leaf  by  leaf. 

"If  you  will  come  back,  I  will  promise  to  be  very 
good  and  not  to  love  you  a  bit,  if  1  can  help  it,  and  to 
think  you  ugly,  if  I  possibly  can." 

She  raised  her  eyes,  glancing  reproachfully  at  him, 
and  dropped  them  again,  and  still  pulling  the  rose  to 
pieces,  made  no  reply.  Major  Baron,  now  rising,  ap- 
proached, and  bending  over  her  said,  in  his  tenderest, 
most  siipphcating  tone,  "  Come  back,  Lilian." 


102  THE  FEET  OF  CLAY. 

"  I  won't,"  she  said,  with  another  coquettish  glance. 

But  taking  her  hand  with  gentle  force,  he  drew  her, 
not  unwillingly,  back  to  her  seat  by  his  side. 

"  Don't,"  she  said,  shying  off  for  some  reason. 

"  Oh !  I  thought  you  said  Cecil,"  he  responded,  smil- 
ing. And  moving  away  a  little,  he  continued,  *'  Now, 
don't  you  see  how  good.  I  am."  And  he  went  on  to 
tell  her  of  the  breakfast  of  that  morning,  and  of  the 
practical  joke  perpetrated  upon  Col.  Harvey. 

''  I  am  sure  after  such  a  breakfast,  you  must  need  a 
lunch,"  said  Lilian,  rising. 

'^  Not  if  it  is  to  deprive  me  of  your  company,"  said 
Major  Baron,  taking  her  hand  and  gently  restraining 
her. 

''  T  am  coming  right  back,"  she  said,  seemingly  not 
displeased. 

She  did  return  in  a  few  moments  ;  and  almost  simul- 
taneously the  servant  announced  the  lunch.  It  was 
temptingly  set  out,  and  simple  as  it  was,  it  comprised 
luxuries  unknown  in  camp. 

Lilian  poured  out  the  fragrant,  steaming  mocha  her- 
self, and  ^lajor  Baron  did  ample  justice  to  the  viands 
set  before  him.  And  notwithstanding  the  sound  now 
and  then  of  a  shot  or  shell,  sometimes  alarmingly  near, 
Lilian  devoted  herself  to  ministering  to  his  wants  with 
wonderfully  improved  nerve.  They  had  returned  to 
the  parlor  and  resumed  their  seats,  when  the  door-bell 
again  rang,  and  Captain  Berry,  twirling  his  mustache, 
was  ushered  into  the  room.  Rising  to  meet  him,  Lilian 
did  not  return  to  her  seat  by  Major  Baron,  but  gauging 
the  distance,  seated  herself  about  equally  distant  from 
each.  Revolving  in  her  mind  that,  while  Major  Baron 
was  much  the  handsomer,  more  charming  and  elegant 
of  the  two,  and  in  a  pecuniary  sense,  being  the  only 
son  of  a  wealthy  Louisiana  planter,  decidedly  the  bet- 
ter match;  but  that  Captain  Berry  was  in  earnest, 
while  she  was  by  no  means  so  sure  of  the  other. 

Major  Baron,  concluding  that  his  chances  for  enter- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  103 

tainment  were  lessened,  Lilian  being  much  more  piquant 
tete-d-tete  than  she  was  likely  to  be  now,  soon  retired. 

Her  conversational  talent  did  not  equal  her  personal 
charms,  as  may  have  been  discovered. 

Captain  Berry  took  a  long  drawn  breath  of  relief  as 
the  door  closed  on  Major  Baron,  and  rising  took  the  seat 
vacated  by  him,  saying  in  quite  a  matter-of-course  wa}^ 
as  he  twirled  his  moustache : 

''Now,  Lily,  tell  me  what  that  conceited  fellow  has 
been  talking  about.     Has  he  been  making  love  to  you  ?  " 

"  Charlie,  you  are  so  jealous.  You  are  always  imag- 
ining that  men  are  making  love  to  me." 

"  How  can  a  man  help  being  jealous,  Lily,  when  he 
hears  that  you  are  running  the  risk  of  getting  shot, 
strolling  with  ]Major  Baron  at  Castle  Hill  while  a  bom- 
bardment was  going  on." 

"At  Castle  Hill,  Charlie?"  exclaimed  Lilian  with 
well  feigned  astonishment.  "  Who  could  have  told  you 
such  a  thing?  " 

"  It  does  not  matter  who  told  me,  if  it  is  true  ?  " 

Catching  at  the  "if"  in  this  remark,  Lilian  said, 
"  I  am  not  going  to  deny  it.  If  you  think  no  more  of 
my  constancy  than  to  believe  everything  you  hear,  and 
are  going  to  torment  me  about  every  idle  report  we 
might  as  well  quit." 

Lilian  understood  well  hoAv  to  hold  her  vantage 
ground.  Captain  Berry,  thoroughly  alarmed  at  this 
threat,  was  willing  now  to  compromise  uj)on  almost  any 
terms. 

"Well,  Lily,  tell  me  that  you  love  me  a  little,  and  I 
will  promise  to  try  never  to  doubt  3'ou  again." 

"Try?  I  don't  have  to  try  not  to  doubt  you.  I  am 
tempted  to  tell  you  I  don't  love  3^ou  a  bit." 

"  Let 's  make  friends,  Lily,"  said  Charlie  humbly. 
"  You  know  I  am  the  biggest  fool  extant  about  you ; 
and  it  is  because  I  think  you  the  prettiest  and  sweetest 
thing  in  the  world  that  I  can't  help  getting  jealous 
sometimes.      Everybod}-   in    camp   thinks  that    Major 


104  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Baron  is  a  fortune  hunter  any  way,"  aclcled  Captain 
Berry  maliciously. 

Lilian  being  herself  dubious  as  to  Major  Baron, 
thought  it  best  to  make  up  with  Captain  Berry.  And 
assuming  an  aggrieved  air,  he  had  to  sue  humbly  for 
pardon  before  he  was  taken  into  favor  again,  when  he 
relapsed  more  desperately  than  ever. 

Major  Baron  had  had  large  experience  in  love  affairs. 
His  generally  overlapped  in  such  quick  succession,  that 
according  to  homoeopathic  principle,  like  curing  like, 
his  happiness  was  scarcely  likely  to  be  seriously  jeopard- 
ized by  any  one  of  them.  Yet  his  heart  did  revert  to 
Aliena  truly  in  a  certain  sense,  despite  the  defections 
already  hinted.  A  man  does  not  expect  to  be  held  by 
the  rules  he  would  consider  binding  upon  the  woman  he 
loves.  Major  Baron  would  have  laughed  to  scorn  the 
idea  of  rejecting  so-called  loving  advances;  or  of  neg- 
lecting honeyed  opportunities.  He  was  sufficiently  posted 
in  feminine  character  not  to  be  seriously  duped  b}^  Lilian ; 
he  did  not  think  it  likely  that  he  was  the  only  recipient 
of  favor.  Perhaps  the  same  little  bird,  plumed  by  mas- 
'culine  self-complacency,  that  not  infrequently  whispers 
stories,  the  knowledge  of  which  might  be  surprising  to 
at  least  one  of  tlie  parties  interested,  had  been  whisper- 
ing to  him.  Yet  he  found  it  pleasant  to  be  with  Lilian, 
Avho  had,  as  we  have  seen,  more  ways  than  one  of 
making  herself  agreeable  at  this  time. 

Major  Baron  was  getting  tired  of  war.  Though  not 
lacking  in  physical  courage  he  was  wanting  in  that  per- 
sistence in  purpose,  and  power  of  endurance  necessary 
to  make  a  true  soldier.  In  fact,  by  inheritance,  b}" 
nature,  and  by  practice  he  was  a  Sybarite ;  preferring 
compromise  to  self-sacrifice,  his  own  ease  to  rigid  prin- 
ciple. 

Riding  from  Lilian's  fascinating  presence  as  he  passed 
the  castle,  he  thought,  with  some  longing  of  the 
time,  when,  as  master  of  that  beautiful  home,  he  might 
sit  at  ease  and  allow  Aliena  the  happiness,  as  he  be- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  105 

lieved  she  would  consider  it,  of  ministering  to  him. 
In  all  his  thoiiglits  of  life,  and  especially  of  married  life, 
which  he  usually  dated  in  his  mind  at  some  rather  re- 
mote j)eriod,  when  life  should  have  lost  something  of  its 
piquancy,  it  was  of  what  he  was  to  be  the  recipient,  and 
not  of  how  he  might  make  life  charming  to  others  upon 
which  his  mind  dwelt. 

Accustomed  to  being  loved,  he  was  somewhat  satiated 
by  the  ordinary  routine  of  passion.  But  there  was  a 
rare  and  delicate  charm  about  Aliena.  She  was  unlike 
the  women  he  had  met.  There  was  the  freshness  of  un- 
exhaled  dew  about  her,  the  transparent  purity  and 
trustfulness  of  a  child  ;  and,  beyond  this,  he  felt  that 
she  had  profoundly  a  vroman's  hearty  its  instinctive 
delicacy,  its  trustfulness  and  its  depth  of  feeling. 

There  was  something,  however,  in  these  character- 
istics, charming  as  they  were,  that  made  him  instinct- 
ively draw  back  at  times  with  the  feeling,  that  being 
himself  of  the  earth,  earthy,  he  could  never  satisfy  the 
ideal  longings  of  her  soul.  Yet  there  was  to  him  in 
Aliena's  untried  capacity  for  feeling,  in  her  refined 
ideality,  and  in  the  intensity  of  her  nature  a  fascinating 
piquancy. 

Let  us  not  say  that  her  wealth  and  elegant  surround- 
ings had  influenced  him,  though  doubtless  he  dwelt 
with  satisfaction  upon  them,  as  well  as  upon  her  aristo- 
cratic descent,  if  such  a  term  be  allowable  in  a  democratic 
country;  though  even  here  an  aristocrac}^  of  intellect, 
culture,  and  merit  may  be  admissible.  If  he  ever  in- 
tended to  marr}^,  and  the  indefinite  duration  of  the  war 
made  that  necessarily  seem  a  thing  of  the  future,  cer- 
tainly no  more  charming  and  lovely  bride  could  be 
found.  Living,  as  he  did,  in  the  present,  it  was  sweet 
to  be  loved. 

To  be  loved — that  was  the  idea.  Whether  he  knew 
anything  of  love,  in  the  true  highest  sense  of  that  word, 
is  another  question.  According  to  his  own  standard 
he  had  scarcely  known  a  time  when  he  was  not  loving 


106  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

some  pretty  woman,  more  or  less,  and  now  he  was  lov- 
ing more,  he  thought.  And  this  was  the  love  Aliena 
was  getting. 

Neither  Lilian  Selwyn  nor  Major  Baron  must  be 
taken  as  types  of  the  men  and  women  to  be  found  in 
this  devoted  city  at  that  time. 

If  Lilian  absorbed  in  the  honey-tongued  tributes  of 
her  sybarite  lovers,  found  no  time  for  other  less  agree- 
able offices,  there  were  women  oblivious  to  danger  and  to 
self,  who  did.  Like  good  angels,  they  ministered  to  those 
exhausted  by  unceasing  duty  in  sultrj^  trenches,  under  a 
burning  sun ;  comforted  those  who,  wounded  by  shot  or 
shell,  were  falling  all  around  them,  and  being  carried  off 
to  hospitals ;  and  hovered  around  the  hard  pallets  of  the 
sick,  the  wounded  and  the  dying.  These  women,  facing 
danger  and  famine,  unmurmuringly,  bore  comforts  to  the 
suffering,  of  which  they  deprived  themselves ;  and  en- 
deavored by  words  of  sympathy  to  strengthen  the  living 
for  life,  and  to  make  the  valley  less  dark  to  those  who, 
shivering  on  the  brink,  went  down  into  that  cold  stream 
across  which  they  might  hope  to  find  "  rest  upon  the 
other  side  of  the  river." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"  With  gentle  voice 
Close  at  mine  ear  one  called  me  forth  to  walk. 
I  rose  as  at  thy  call  bnt  found  thee  not ; 
To  find  thee  I  directed  then  my  walk ; 
And  on  methought,  alone,  I  passed  tlirough  ways 
That  brouglit  me  on  a  sudden  to  the  tree 
Of  interdicted  knowledge." 

MiLTox :  Paradise  Lost. 

"  I  have  finished  looking  over  pa's  papers,"  said  ]\Irs. 
Skinker  to  her  mother,  laying  a  paper  from  her  hand 
upon  a  pile  on  the  table  by  which  she  sat,  "  and  from 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  107 

all  I  can  see  to  the  contrary,  there  is  nothing  but  starv- 
ation ahead  of  us." 

Her  mother  made  no  reply,  but  commenced  moving 
her  body  back  and  forth,  uttering  a  sort  of  piteous 
moan. 

"  Ma,  for  the  Lord's  sake  stop  that  whimpering  and 
listen  to  me,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker  in  a  hard  incisive  tone. 
'*It  is  narrowed  down  to  this — we  must  do  somethinof 
for  a  living,  or  we  will  soon  not  have  even  our  clothes 
left  to  cover  our  bodies ;  for  they  will  be  taken  for  our 
board." 

"  What  can  I  do,  Eliza  ?  "  asked  the  tremulous  old 
woman  in  a  helpless  tone. 

"You  have  got  to  do  something,  that  is  a  well 
established  fact.  Do  you  know  I've  told  you  often 
enough,  that  Dr.  Leigh  is  going  up  that  mountain 
every  few  days?  It  is  no  use  trying  to  blind  ourselves 
with  the  idea  that  he  is  visiting  Mrs.  Graeme.  She  is 
up  and  going  about.  Joe,  our  new  waiter,  who  was 
hired  at  the  Mountain  House,  sa^^s  that  Dr.  Leigh  went 
walking  or  driving  with  Miss  Graeme  n earl 3^  ever}^  time 
he  went  up  there,  and  that  he  could  not  keep  his  eyes 
off  of  her.  So  you  see  the  only  chance  is  to  bring  about 
a  rupture  between  them." 

''  Eliza,  don't  try  to  make  me  a  worse  woman  than  I 
am,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  in  a  subdued  tone,  casting  her 
eye  at  the  obstructing  ceiling,  and  letting  it  fall  meekly 
upon  her  hands. 

"  Worse  than  you  are  ?  You  are  precious  good  all  of 
a  sudden.  It  is  late  in  the  day  for  that  sort  of  thing. 
You  goaded  pa  on  for  mammon  all  the  days  of  his  life, 
until  he  Avent  down  to  his  grave  in  despair.  And  what 
have  we  got  now  ?  " 

Mrs.  Bledsoe  started  up,  twitching  and  trembling  all 
over,  put  out  her  arms  to  balance  herself,  and  tottered 
to  her  feet.  Her  distended  fingers  were  working  aim- 
lessly in  the  air,  her  eyes  rolling  wildly. 

''  What  have  I  done  ?     Don't  try  those  tricks  on  me 


108  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

because  I  want  you  to  do  something  to  keep  our  souls  in 
our  bodies.  Existence  is  all  I  am  indebted  to  you  for. 
You  owe  me  something  for  inflicting  that  upon  me.  I 
tell  you  now  you  need  never  expect  love  from  me.  You 
have  made  my  life  a  misery,  and  whatever  I  may  do  for 
you  is  solely  because  I  can't  help  it.  You  need  not  try 
to  drive  me  to  perdition  as  you  did  pa." 

Mrs.  Bledsoe,  more  and  more  frantic,  was  tottering  to 
and  fro  in  the  room  as  her  daughter  snapped  out  at  em- 
phatic intervals  these  cruel  words. 

Gathering  strength,  she  now  moved  wildly  from  the 
room — her  pale  steel-blue  eye  rolling  frantically,  her 
teeth  clicking  and  chattering  in  her  head — as,  with  dis- 
tended twitching  fingers,  she  moved  on  through  the  hall 
to  her  room.  A  lady,  whose  room  she  passed,  seeing 
the  frantic  old  woman  rushing  thus  wildly  along,  put 
her  baby  from  her  arms,  and,  in  kindness,  followed  her 
to  her  room,  where  she  was  moving  like  a  caged  lioness 
to  and  fro  in  the  same  wild,  strange  way. 

Approaching  Mrs.  Bledsoe  timidly  she  said  with  an 
anxious  look  of  sympathy,  ''  What  is  the  matter?  Has 
anything  happened  ?  Can  I  do  anything  for  you  ?"  but 
Mrs.  Bledsoe  making  no  reply  continued  her  frantic 
movements. 

Awe-struck  at  the  appearance  of  the  white  haired  old 
woman,  but  full  of  sympathy,  the  would-be  benefact- 
ress ventured  nearer,  asking  again,  "  Can't  I  do  some- 
thing for  you,  Mrs.  Bledsoe  ?  "  Without  stopping  the 
frantic  old  woman  put  out  her  hand  with  the  open 
palm  against  the  breast  of  the  other  and  hurled  her 
with  unnatural  strength  against  the  wall. 

Stunned  and  terrified,  glancing  back  to  see  that  slie 
was  not  pursued  by  the  maniacal  old  woman  she  fled 
to  Mrs.  Skinker's  room,  where  she  sank  almost  breatli- 
less  into  a  chair,  gasping  out,  "  Your  mother — go  to  her." 

"  Don't  worry  yourself  about  ma,  there's  nothing  the 
matter  with  her  but  temper,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker,  calmly, 
but,  rising  she  went  to  her  mother's  room. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  109 

Here,  finding  that  her  mother  had  locked  the  door, 
Mrs.  Skinker  put  her  mouth  to  the  key-hole  and  hissed 
through  it,  "  Open  this  door,  ma.  Do  you  hear  me  ? 
Open  this  door."  Mrs.  Bledsoe  made  no  reply  and  her 
daughter  could  hear  her  still  moving  frantically  back 
and  forth. 

Kattling  the  door  i\Irs.  Skinker  placed  her  mouth 
again  at  tiie  key-hole  and  hissed,  "•  Open  this  door  I  tell 
you." 

''  I  am  going  to  throw  mj^self  out  of  the  window," 
said  the  frenzied  old  woman. 

'-'-  No  you  wont.  Open  this  door,"  again  hissed  the 
daughter  in  a  hard,  imperious  tone,  and  after  a  time  the 
click  of  the  lock  was  heard,  and  Mrs.  Skinker  entered 
the  room  and  shut  the  door  behind  her. 

Whatever  transpired  there  must  have  had  a  calming 
effect  upon  the  old  woman,  as  she  appeared  at  the  tea- 
table  that  night  with  more  than  her  usual  look  of 
resigned  piety. 

Mrs.  Skinker  had  learned  that  her  mother  was  more 
pliable  after  these  attacks.  The  following  day  at  din- 
ner she  said  to  Dr.  Leigh  with  an  unusually  affable 
smile,  showing  the  incisors,  ''Doctor,  have  you  any 
messages  for  your  friends  on  the  mountain  ?  I  thought 
a  drive  would  do  ma  good,  and  we  may  see  Mrs.  Graeme 
and  her  daughter." 

''  The  drive  Avill  benefit  her  no  doubt.  I  have  some 
letters  for  them.  I  will  be  glad  if  you  will  be  kind 
enough  to  hand  them  to  Mrs.  Graeme,"  he  replied. 

''  Gertainly,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker  with  great  affability, 
receiving  the  letters,  handling  them  with  evident  satis- 
faction. 

"  Will  you  be  good  enough  to  see  ma  to  the  carriage, 
Doctor?  We  are  going  immediatel}"  after  dinner,"  said 
]\Irs.  Skinker.  Dr.  Leigh  accordingly  assisted  them 
with  Arista  into  the  carriage,  and  they  drove  off. 

"  Dr.  Leigh  did  not  mention  that  there  was  a  letter 
for  Miss  Graeme,"  said  Mrs.  Skinker,  squeezing  and 


110  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

eying  the  letters  ^Yith  great  interest.  "Hers  is  in  a 
gentleman's  handwriting,  but  I  think  it  is  an  old  man's. 
Possibl}^  it  may  be  from  Vieksburg,  run  out  'under- 
ground '  and  remailed,  but  that  is  scarcely  probable 
now.  Mrs.  Graeme  is  from  Athens,  Georgia,  it  looks 
like  a  business  letter.  It  is  a  hotel  envelope.  I  don't 
think  there  is  much  of  anything  in  it. 

"  ]Ma,  won't  you  let  me  see  them  ?  "  said  Arista,  imagin- 
ing there  must  be  some  unknown  charm  about  the  letters. 

"You  just  dare  to  sa}^  letter  on  the  mountain  and  youll 
never  want  to  say  letter  again  while  you  live,"  paid  Mrs. 
Skinker  letting  off  a  shower  of  snaps  from  her  eyes. 

Arriving  at  the  quiet  hotel  upon  the  mountain,  they 
sought  Mrs.  Graeme's  room,  where,  upon  the  gallery  of 
a  retired  wing  of  the  house,  they  found  her  and  Aliena 
seated.  Rising  as  the  visitors  approached,  surprised  at 
seeing  these  recently  bereaved  ladies,  Mrs.  Graeme  ad- 
vanced, and  proffering  her  hand  said  cordially,  "  How 
do  you  do  Mrs.  Bledsoe  ?  I  am  glad  to  see  you.'' 

"  My  dear,  I  am  so  glad  to  find  you  up.  I  was  afraid 
from  Dr.  Leigh's  continued  visits  that  you  were  still  ill, 
and  I  made  the  effort  to  come  and  see  you.  I  know 
that  my  dear  husband  would  have  wished  me  to  do  so," 
said  Mrs.  Bledsoe  with  an  incipient  show  of  grief,  but 
catching  her  daughter's  eye  she  seemed  to  recover  her- 
self, and  pressing  Aliena's  hand  she  took  the  chair 
])roffered  by  her,  continuing,  "Thank  you  my  dear. 
Bring  your"  chair  close  here  and  sit  by  me.  I  am  so 
glad  to'  see  you  looking  so  well.  Either  the  mountain 
air  or  something  else  has  almost  brought  the  roses  to 
your  cheeks." 

Aliena  seating  herself  as  requested,  Mrs.  Bledsoe 
took  her  hand  in  both  of  hers  stroking  it  with  velvety 
feline  caress. 

But  as  the  conversation  progressed  Mrs.  Skinker  evi- 
dently grew  restless  and  impatient,  and  she  soon  said, 
"Mrs.  Graeme  do  you  think  you  have  regained  your 
strength  enough  to  go  to  the  Point  of  Rocks?    I  am 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  111 

anxious  for  ma  to  visit  it,  she  has  never  seen  the  view 
from  there,  and  we  had  proposed  after  seeing  you  to  go 
there  this  afternoon." 

"  I  doubt  whether  I  have  sufficient  strength  yet,  to 
venture  upon  so  long  a  walk,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme. 

''  We  can  drive  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Point 
and  the  w^alk  will  be  nothing  then,"  persisted  Mrs. 
Skinker. 

"  If  your  mother  is  willing  to  undertake  it  I  suppose 
I  might,"  Mrs.  Graeme  responded  reluctantly. 

The  party  accordingly  entered  the  carriage  and, 
driving  as  near  as  possible  to  the  Point,  they  got  out  to 
Avalk  the  remainder  of  the  distance. 

'•  Take  ni}^  arm  Mrs.  Graeme  and  I  will  assist  you,  ma 
can  come  on  with  Miss  Graeme.  Kun  on  ahead  Arista," 
said  Mrs.  Skinker,  and  they  started  oif  to  walk. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe  followed  slowl}',  leaning  heavily  upon 
Aliena's  arm.  Aliena  sighed  unconsciously,  possibly  at 
the  painful  remembrance  of  the  visit  she  had  last  paid 
to  the  Point  of  Rooks,  and  Mrs.  Bledsoe  said,  ''What 
are  you  sighing  about,  my  dear?  It  is  bad  enough  for 
old,  sorrow-stricken  women  like  myself  to  be  sighing." 

"  Don't  you  suppose  that  young  people  have  sorrows 
as  well  as  old  ones  ?  "  said  Aliena  sadly.  But  penitent 
the  next  moment  for  obtruding  her  troubles  upon  the 
afflicted  old  woman  she  added,  "  It  seems  selfish,  how- 
ever, for  me  to  be  thinking  of  any  unhappiness  I  may 
have  when  you  are  good  enough,  with  your  great  sor- 
row, to  be  thinking  of  others." 

This  reply  diverted  Mrs.  Bledsoe  from  the  purpose  of 
her  visit  for  the  moment;  but  since  the  outburst  of  the 
day  before,  her  will  was  more  than  usually  subservient 
to  that  of  her  daughter.  The  thought  of  facing  Mrs. 
Skinker  in  case  of  failure  strengthened  the  mother's 
resolution  to  go  on,  and  she  said  in  her  most  maternal 
manner,  "  I  have  thought  of  you  frequently  lately,  my 
dear,  and  I  have  been  feeling  that  I  owed  it  to  you  to 
tell  you  something ;  painful  as  it  is  to  me  to  do  so." 


112  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

Aliena's  heart  bounded  with  a  sudden  pain.  Her  con- 
stant state  of  anxiety  and  incertitude  kept  her  intensely 
alive  to  any  undefined,  unpleasant  communication.  Im- 
pressed with  Mrs.  Bledsoe's  manner  she  awaited,  in  in- 
tense apprehension  to  hear  what  it  should  be. 

''  Dr.  Leigh  has  been  coming  here  frequently  to  see  you 
since  you  have  been  on  the  mountain.  Has  he  not,  my 
dear  ?  "  Mrs.  Bledsoe  asked. 

"  Yes,  he  has  been  a  good  many  times  to  see  mother," 
Aliena  replied  hesitating,  trembling  with  fear.  Her 
hands  growing  cold  and  her  eyes  dilating,  as  this  ques- 
tion gave  her  a  possible  clew  to  the  topic  Mrs.  Bledsoe 
wished  to  discuss. 

''  To  see  t/ou,  my  dear  ?  Excuse  me,  this  is  not  mere 
idle  curiosity." 

Aliena  could  not  but  think,  now  that  her  attention 
was  called  to  the  fact,  that  for  sometime  Dr.  Leigh's 
visits  could  not  have  been  altogether  to  her  mother. 
The  memory  too  of  his  last  visit,  with  the  conversa- 
tion at  the  spot  they  were  approaching,  flashed  sorrow- 
fully upon  her  mind,  This  thought  pictured  itself 
so  plainly  upon  her  face  that  it  needed  nothing  more 
to  convince  Mrs.  Bledsoe  that  lier  daughter's  fears  were 
not  without  foundation. 

"  He  probably  intended  his  visits  for  me,  as  well  as 
for  mother,"  Aliena  replied,  adding  apologetically, 
'^  Mother's  sickness  seemed  to  throw  us  upon  his  pro- 
tection and  care." 

"  Those  relations  sometimes  prove  dangerous,  my 
dear,,  between  charming  young  ladies,  and  agreeable 
gentlemen,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  watching  Aliena's  ex- 
pressive face. 

The  thought  that  this  might  have  proved  too  true, 
brought  the  tell-tale  tide  to  Aliena's  face  under  Mrs. 
Bledsoe's  gaze. 

''  I  don't  want  to  ask  you  any  questions,  my  dear," 
the  old  woman  continued  with  assumed  delicacy,  hav- 
ing  discovered    all   she    Avished   to    know.      Dropping 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  113 

Aliena's  arm  she  halted,  and  taking  her  hand  in  hers, 
stroked  it  caressingly,  while  seemingly  the  claws 
tlirongh  the  velvety  exterior  were  digging  into  Aliena's 
quivering  nerves,  the  old  woman  continued.  "  Dr.  Leigh 
has  heen  our  physician  here,  he  is  a  talented  man,  and 
my  husband  had  him  in  attendance.  He  did  all  he  could 
for  my  husband,  I  have  no  doubt,  and  we  feel  under 
obligations  to  him."  Mrs.  Bledsoe  almost  broke  down 
at  this  review  of  Dr.  Leigh's  kindness,  though  she  had 
not  stated  that  all  this  was  done  without  other  compen- 
sation than  the  sense  of  gratification  in  the  alleviation 
of  suffering,  But  strengthened  by  the  thought  of  her 
daughter's  indignation  in  case  of  failure,  and  of  the 
stake  for  which  she  was  playing,  she  continued,  "  I 
thought  that  these  facts  being  known  to  you,  my  dear, 
might  have  had  some  influence  in  forming  your  opinion 
of  Dr.  Leigh.  As  a  physician,  this  of  course,  does  not 
matter;  but,"  and  she  stroked  the  hand  in  a  still  more 
feline  way,  as  she  continued,  "looking  at  Dr.  Leigh  in 
the  attitude  of  a  lover,  to  you,  my  dear,  as  a  lover — it 
appears  in  quite  a  different  light." 

Aliena,  turning  white  and  then  red,  was  trying  to  col- 
lect her  thoughts  so  as  to  be  truthful  and  at  the  same 
time  non-committal ;  and  yet,  without  rudeness,  to  pre- 
vent Mrs.  Bledsoe's  making  what  she  felt  was  to  be 
some  painful  disclosure.  But  as  she  hesitated,  the  old 
woman  continued,  still  stroking  her  hand  caressingly, 
"  I  am  very  sorry  to  pain  you,  my  dear,  but  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  tell  you,"  and  she  cast  her  eye  heavenward 
with  one  of  her  most  resigned  looks  of  piety,  "  that  as 
a  man  and  as  a  husband.  Dr.  Leigh  is  not  one  to  whom 
I  can  stand  quietly  by  and  see  3'ou  sacrificed." 

"  I  have  no  idea  of  marrj'ing  Dr.  Leigh.  He  has 
never  asked  me  to  marry  him,"  Aliena  gasped  out 
quickly,  interrupting  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  hoping  to  stop 
further  communication. 

Aliena's  agitation  more  than  ever  determined  Mrs. 
Bledsoe  to  continue,  and  she  went  on,  ''  I  knew  Dr. 


114  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Leio-li  before  he  ^Yas  married — and  knew  his  wife,  poor 
thing  I  I  am  pained  to  say  it,  but  her  father  forced 
Dr.  Leigh  to  marry  her,  for  very  good  reasons,  they 
ought  to  have  been  married  sooner.  She  only  lived  a 
few  months  after  their  marriage.  There  Avas  a  great 
deal  of  talk— there  was  something  very  mysterious 
about  her  death.  I  only  tell  you  what  everybody  knows 
where  he  lives.  I  feel  that  I  must  tell  you  this,  painful 
as  it  is,  I  owe  it  to  you,  my  dear.  I  do  by  you  as  I 
would  by  my  own  child." 

Aliena,  gasping,  withdrew  her  cold,  trembling  hand, 
shrinking  instinctively  from  the  touch  of  Mrs.  Bledsoe, 
as  she  would  have  done  from  a  viper,  much  as  she  had 
heretofore  reverenced  her  supposed  truthfulness  and 
piety,  and  deeply  as  she  had  sympathized  with  her  in 
her  grief. 

"  My  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe  in  a  wounded  tone,  ''  I 
suppose  I  shall  get  no  thanks  for  doing  what  my  love 
for  you  has  impelled  me  to,  but  I  have  done  it  for  your 
good." 

"  May  God  forgive  him,  if  this  be  true,"  Aliena  gasped 
out,  bewildered  between  the  implicit  faith  she  had  in 
Dr.  Leigh,  and  the  apparent  impossibility  that  the  seem- 
ingly pious,  afflicted  old  woman  beside  her  could,  un- 
truthfully, so  murder  character. 

"  I  am'^sorry  that  you  should  have  told  me  this,  Llrs. 
Bledsoe,"  Aliena  felt  impelled  to  say,  in  a  strange, 
unnatural  voice.  "Dr.  Leigh  has  been  exceedingly 
kind  to  mother  and  myself.  I  have  been  very  grateful 
to  him."  Thinking  this  sounded  like  desertion,  she 
added,  "  I  am  very  gratefal.  He  has  never  said  he 
loved  me.  There  is  no  possibility  of  our  being  more  to 
each  other  than  friends.  It  is  painful  in  the  extreme 
to  me  to  have  my  faith  shaken.  Friendship  cannot 
exist  without  trust.  He  and  I  are  soon  to  separate^ t 
would  have  been  a  great  happiness  to  have  parted  with- 
out a  shadow  upon  our  friendship." 

"  My  affection  is  always  making  me    do  something 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  115 

that  I  ought  not  to  do,"  ^Irs.  Bledsoe  whimpered  out, 
in  a  tone  of  wounded  feeling. 

''  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  intentions.  Excuse  me 
if  I  have  said  anything  I  ought  not,"  said  Aliena 
coldly,  in  the  same  unnatural  tone  of  voice. 

"-  You  must  have  walked  slowly,  we  have  been  here 
some  time,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme,  as  Mrs.  Bledsoe  and 
Aliena  slowly  approached,  both  looking  painfully  de- 
pressed. 

"  I  suppose  we  did,"  said  Aliena,  in  a  wear}-,  preoc- 
cupied way.  And  regardless  of  forms,  she  walked  on 
to  where  she  had  sat  when  last  here,  seating  herself 
with  her  back  to  the  rest  of  the  party. 

This  was  the  first  time  she  had  ventured  here  since 
the  evening  she  had  spent  with  Dr.  Leigh.  She  felt  now 
as  though  she  coald  scarcely  restrain  herself  from  groan- 
ing aloud.  Dr.  Leigh's  words  came  to  her  mind  with 
renewed  force  and  pain.  ''  There  are  visible  and  invisi- 
ble deaths.  We  unconsciously  kneel  beside  these  invis- 
ible death-beds."  What  if  she  were  kneeling  beside 
one  now?  some  evil  spirit  whispered.  Here,  in  a  spot 
sacred  to  friendship,  where  all  nature  was  so  beautiful, 
where  she  had  given  her  pledge  of  trust.  Other  words 
of  Dr.  Leigh  came  back  painfull}^  now,  too,  with  start- 
ling and  perverted  meaning,  to  her  memory.  "  Pray  to 
God  that  they  may  rest  tranquilly  in  their  graves,  and 
not  start  to  life — phantoms,  paralyzing  energj-."  And 
as  if  an  emanation  from  the  evil  one,  warping  and  dis- 
torting their  meaning,  she  thought,  '*  My  God  I  could 
he  have  meant  the  ghost  of  a  wronged  and  murdered 
wife  ?  " 

Mrs.  Skinker  had  to  call  a  second  time  before  Aliena 
became  conscious  of  the  summons ;  so  profoundly  was 
she  absorbed  in  thought.  "  Miss  Graeme,  I  am  sorry  to 
cut  short  your  enjoyment,"  she  said,  with  a  satisfactory 
smile,  disclosing  the  incisors  as  she  caught  the  expres- 
sion of  the  white,  fixed  face  that  was  turned  toward 
her,   continuing,  "  You  seem  so  absorbed  in  the  view 


116  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

that  it  is  a  pity  to  tear  you  away,  but  we  must  be  go- 
ing." 

Aliena  rose  mechanically,  oblivious  to  everything 
around  her,  and  they  walked*^  back  to  the  carriage.  Mrs. 
Skinker  accompanied  her,  now  doing  all  the  talking. 

Aliena  could  scarcely  bring  herself  to  submit  to  Mrs. 
Bledsoe's  affectionate  farewell  and  pantomimic  benedic- 
tion at  parting. 

When  she  and  her  mother  sat  once  more  alone  in  the 
twilight  upon  the  gallery,  there  was  a  prolonged  silence. 
Aliena  said  at  length  with  a  sigh, 

"  Mother,  do  you  think  Mrs.  Bledsoe  is  a  good  wo- 
man?" 

"  Certainly  I  do,  daughter.     Why  do  you  ask  ?  " 

"I  always  thought  so,  but  this  evening  I  felt  a  sort 
of  natural  repulsion  to  her." 

"•  You  ought  not  to  give  up  to  such  feelings,  my  child. 
She  seems  to  be  an  exceedinglj^  pious,  good  woman." 

''  The  wrong  is  possibly  in  myself,"  said  Aliena,  sigh- 
ing we  aril}' . 

"  Is  there  anything  the  matter  with  you,  daughter  ? 
you  seem  out  of  spirits,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme  anxiously, 
watclring  Aliena  as  she  sat  looking  utterly  weary  and 
wretched. 

"  I  don't  feel  well  for  some  reason,"  said  Aliena,  ris- 
ing and  retiring  to  her  room  to  avoid  questioning. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"  Misleads  the  mazed  night  wanderer  from  his  way 
To  bogs,  and  mires,  and  oft  through  pond  or  pool 
There  swallowed  up  and  lost." 

Shakespeare. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe's  feelings  were  not  of  an  enviable  nature 
as  she  drove  with  her  daughter  and  grandchild  down 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  117 

Lookout  mountain  that  afternoon.  Mrs.  Skinker,  how- 
ever, was  apparently  in  an  unusually  amiable  frame  of 
mind. 

"  Ma,  did  you  tell  Miss  Graeme,"  ^Irs.  Skinker  asked 
as  soon  as  they  started,  too  impatient  to  await  the 
volition  of  her  mother,  who  sat  looking  jaded  and  feeble 
with  her  hands  folded  in  her  lap. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  with  a  groan  that  under 
ordinary  circumstances  would  inevitably  have  caused  an 
explosion  of  temper  upon  the  daughter's  part.  But  she 
restrained  herself  at  present. 

"  What  did  she  say  ?  How  did  she  take  it?  Did  she 
seem  worried  *  "  asked  Mrs.  Skinker,  eagerly. 

"  It  is  hard  to  say,"  her  mother  responded  mourn- 
fully. 

This  response  was  too  much  for  Mrs.  Skinker,  her 
temper  could  not  stand  everything.  "Ma,  for  the 
Lord's  sake  stop  that  higgling,  and  tell  me  if  you  are 
going  to.  Don't  let  me  have  to  use  a  forty-horse  power 
to  pump  a  little  information  out  of  you,"  she  exclaimed 
angrily. 

"  Eliza,  will  you  let  me  have  a  little  peace  until  I  can 
collect  my  thoughts?  " 

"  I  wish  you  would  go  on  collecting  them  then,  and 
try  to  let  me  hear  from  you  this  side  of  Christmas,  if 
possible." 

"  Well,  I  told  her.  I  don't  know  whether  she  be- 
lieves it  or  not.  She  was  dreadfully  shocked  ;  that  I 
could  see.  I  am  almost  certain  Dr.  Leigh  has  given  her 
to  understand — you  know  what?"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe, 
nodding  her  head  mysteriously  at  Arista. 

'•  Arista,  don't  you  want  to  get  out  and  ride  with  the 
driver?  You  will  have  a  nice  time  out  there."  Mrs. 
Skinker  condescended  to  say,  in  her  anxiety,  to  get  rid 
of  the  child  so  that  she  might  hear  undisturbed  what 
her  mother  had  to  communicate. 

'^  No,  I  don't  want  to  go  with  the  driver,  I  want  to 
hear  what  you  and  grandma  are   talking  about,"  said 


118  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

Arista,  moved  by  curiosity  as  well  as  a  spirit  of  con- 
trariness. 

"  You  are  going  whether  you  want  to  or  not,"  said 
Mrs.  Skinker,  her  eyes  snapping  violentl}'. 

"  I  know  what  you  want  me  to  go  out  there  for.  You 
want  to  talk  about  Dr.  Leigh  and  ]\liss  Graeme,  and 
you  don't  want  me  to  hear.  I  am  going  to  tell  him 
that  3"ou  and  grandma  were  telling  ]\Iiss  Graeme  some- 
thing about  him." 

"  You  just  tell  him  that  and  I'll  whip  you  within  an 
inch  of  your  life,"  said  her  mother,  with  a  perfect  storm 
of  snaps,  continuing — ''  Driver,  stop  a  minute  and  take 
Arista  out  Avith  you.  She  wants  to  be  where  she  can 
see." 

The  carriage  was  stopped,  and  Mrs.  Skinker  taking- 
hold  of  the  child's  arm  helped  her  to  the  driver's  seat; 
leaving  the  impress  of  the  live  amiable  fingers  upon  the 
flesh.  But  Arista  made  no  outcr3^  She  said  nothing 
until  the  sound  of  the  wheels  covered  her  voice. 

''Ma  told  a  lie,"  she  said  then  to  the  driver.  "I 
didn't  Avant  to  get  out  here  at  all.  I  wanted  to  hear 
Avhat  they  were  telling  about  Miss  Graeme  and  Dr. 
Leigh." 

"  Aint  you  afeered  to  talk  that  way.  Miss  ?  To  call 
your  mar  a  liar  ?  The  devil  always  gits  little  gals  what 
calls  thar  mas  liars,"  said  the  negro  driver. 

"  No  I'm  not  ashamed.     I  want  the  devil  to  get  me." 

''  Laws  a  marcy  !  Miss.  I  neber  heern  a  white  chile 
talk  like  that.  You  aint  never  seen  the  devil  I  'low,  or 
you  would  n't  say  tliat,  and  you  would  n't  never  want  to 
see  him  no  more  neither,  I  know." 

'^  Yoti  never  saw  him  either  ?  "  the  child  said  inter- 
rogatively— diverted  from  her  angry  train  of  thought 
by  the  negro's  words  and  manner. 
;^,"  Yes,  Miss,  I  'low  I  is,  and  I  don't  neber  want  to 
make  his  quaintance  no  more,  not  as  long  as  I  live." 

"  Where  did  you  see  liim  ?  What  did  he  look  like  ?  " 
asked  Arista,  eagerly. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  110 

"  It  was  before  I  come  here.  It  was  down  in  the  low 
country.  I  was  gwine  along  one  night  with  a  fine  fat 
pig,  in  a  sack.  It  was  jest  a  roastin  size.  I'm 
powerful  fond  of  roast  pig,  and  I  was  thinkin  until  my 
mouf  was  farly  Avaterin  how  I  was  gwine  to  eat  pig  and 
hot  ash  cake  that  night.  I  was  monsus  grub  struck, 
;uul  it  was  as  dark  as  pitch,  and  I  was  jest  a  puttin 
ground  behind  me.  It  was  nigh  on  to  midnight  when 
I  come  outen  the  path  in  the  Avoods  and  struck  into 
the  big  road  and  was  makin  a  bee  line  for  home.  Just 
then  I  heerd  a  orful  rumblin  and  a  roarin,  and  I 
stopped  a  minnit  to  listen.  And  I  did  n't  hear  nothin 
more,  but  thinks  I  to  myself  this,  here  nigger  had  better 
git  up  and  git.  And  I  struck  inter  a  kind  of  dog  trot. 
Bout  that  time  I  heerd  the  roarin  agin,  a  comin  towards 
me  like,  and  I  turned  around  to  look.  Thar  come  a 
light  just  then,  and  what  should  I  see  but  the  devil 
hisself — my  har  farly  stood  on  eend  when  the  light 
shined  his  eyes.  They  was  as  big  as  good  sized  sau- 
cers— ^^just  a  blazin  with  light.  And  I  seen  his  horns  a 
standin  out,  and  his  tail  a  switchin  round.  He  was  as 
high  as  a  middlin  sized  sapplin.  Just  then  I  heerd  him 
roar  agin,  and  I  seen  him  slash  his  tail  around,  and 
make  fur  this  nigger,  but  perhaps  he  didn't  git  up  and 
git.  I  dropped  that  sack,  pig  and  all,  and  you  oughterer 
seen  me  put  ground  behind  me.  I  made  tracks  for 
sartin.  It  began  to  rain  before  I  got  home,  and  you'd 
a  thought  I  was  a  young  lime  kiln  to  a  seen  me  a 
steamin  when  I  got  into  the  cabin.  I  ain't  never  been 
through  that  bottom  after  dark  sence.  And  it  'pears 
like  to  me  that  I  ain't  hankered  as  much  for  pig." 

''Did  he  say  anything  to  you?"  asked  Arista,  deeply 
interested. 

''  I  never  stopped  to  hear  nothin,  but  for  nigh  on  to  a 
mile  thar  was  a  powerful  smell  of  sulfire  and  brimstonCv-^ 

"Well,  what  did  Dr.  Leigh  give  her  to  understand?'' 
asked  Mrs.  Skinker  eargerly,  after  ridding  herself  of  the 
child. 


120  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  I  think  from  what  she  said,  and  I  don't  believe  she 
would  tell  a  story — " 

"  I  declare  to  goodness  you  are  equal  to  '  cousin  Sally 
Dillard,'  "  JNIrs.  Skinker  snapped  out,  interrupting  Mrs. 
Bledsoe  in  spite  of  herself.  "  Can't  you  tell  what  it 
Avas  Dr.  Leigh  gave  her  to  understand  without  all  that 
stuff  about  her  not  telling  a  story?  I  believe  she  would 
tell  a  lie  as  soon  as  an3'body  else  if  it  suited  her.  I 
don't  see  why  you  imagine  she  is  any  better  than  the 
rest  of  the  world.  And  according  to  my  experience 
they'll  all  do  it,  if  it  suits  their  purpose  better  than  the 
truth.  Have  you  found  out  yet  what  it  is  that  you 
were  going  to  tell  ?  " 

''  Eliza,  I  am  not  going  to  tell  you  at  all  if  I  can't  tell 
it  my  own  way,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe,  folding  her  hands 
resignedly,  venturing  on  a  faint  show^  of  silent  prayer. 

Mrs.  Skinker,  in  her  anxiety  to  hear,  was  at  too  great 
a  disadvantage  not  to  subside  at  this  tlireat.  She  bit 
her  lips,  breathing  in  a  labored  apoplectic  Avay  as  her 
mother  sat  tantalizingiy  silent. 

''  I  told  her  the  story,"  Mrs.  Bledsoe  said  at  length ; 
''  she  tried  very  hard  to  stop  nie,  but  I  saw  in  her  face, 
and  knew  from  what  she  said,  that  there  w^as  sometliing 
between  them,  and  I  determined  not  to  be  stopped." 

"  Do  you  think  they  are  engaged  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Skin- 
ker, still  breathing  heavily.  ''  She  listenexl  to  me,  evi- 
dently aghast,  and  w^hen  I  had  finished  she  looked  as 
white  as  a  sheet.  She  said  then  that  he  had  never  told 
her  he  loved  her,  and  that  they  could  never  be  more  to 
each  other  than  friends.  I  suppose  she  meant  after 
w^hat  I  had  told  her.  And  that  she  was  very  sorry  I 
had  told  her  anything.  That  it  was  extremely  painful 
to  have  to  give  up  a  friendship.  From  that  I  know  she 
intends  to  give  him  up." 

"  Do  you  suppose  it  possible  for  her  to  tell  him," 
asked  Mrs.  Skinker,  her  spirits  evidently  improved  by 
the  last  part  of  the  report. 
"You  know, Eliza, you  made  the  story  as  you  did  because 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  1^1 

you  thought  she  could  not  tell  him,  so  it  is  your  fault  if 
she  does.  You  know  a  great  many  did  say  his  wife 
died  with  a  broken  lieart  on  account  of  being  made  to 
marry  him,"  said  Mrs.  Bledsoe  as  though  to  excuse  her- 
self to  her  own  conscience.  As  they  drove  up  to  the 
hotel  Dr.  Leigh,  who  Avas  about  entering  on  his  way  to  tea, 
seeing  them,  approached  the  carriage  to  assist  them  out. 

"  I  had  such  a  nice  time,"  said  Arista  as  he  lifted 
her  from  her  elevated  perch.  "Joe  told  me  about  his 
seeing  the  devil,  and  what  he  looked  like.  Ma  didn't 
spite  me  a  bit  by  putting  me  out  there  so  she  and  grand- 
ma could  talk  about " — Arista  stopped  suddenly,  as  she 
cauo'ht  the  look  her  mother  darted  at  her,  which  mio^ht 
liave  suggested  his  Satanic  majesty  himself. 

]\Irs  Bledsoe  came  to  the  rescue  by  saying  to  Dr. 
Leigh  in  her  most  motherly  manner,  "  My  dear,  allow 
me  the  support  of  your  arm?  I  am  feeling  feeble.  The 
trip  was  almost  too  much  for  me  to  undertake,"  and 
taking  his  arm  she  walked  into  the  house,  and  on  to 
the  supper  room,  leaning  affectionately  upon  him. 
Mrs.  Skinker  had  in  the  mean  time  whisked  Arista  off 
to  her  room.  It  was  not  likely  after  what  transpired 
there  that  she  would  soon  venture  so  boldly,  in  her 
mother's  presence  at  least.  Locking  the  child  in  her 
room  supperless,  Mrs.  Skinker  hastened  down  to  the 
supper  table. 

Here,  a  little  out  of  breath,  she  seated  herself  by  her 
mother.  "  We  had  a  charming  drive,"  said  Mrs.  Skin- 
ker, ^'  we  found  your  friends  astonishingly  well.  Mrs. 
Graeme  is  a  monument  of  your  skill.  We  had  expect- 
ed to  find  her  in  bed,  as  you  continued  your  visits  so 
frequently.  But  she  actually  walked  to'  the  Point  of 
Rocks  with  us,"  and  leaning  forward  she  watched  the 
effect  of  her  words  upon  Dr.  Leigh  who  was  seated  be^ 
low  her  mother. 

He  made  no  reply,  and  Mrs.  Bledsoe  added,  "The 
young  lady  was  not  looking  so  well,  however.  I  think 
she  must  be  pining  to  see  her  lover." 


122  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

"What  lover?"  asked  Dr.  Leigh  eagerly,  droiDpino- 
his  knife  and  fork.  ^  ^^    "^ 

"The  young  officer— Oh  I  but  I  must  not  tell  secrets. 
I  thought  of  course  she  had  told  you.  You  and  she 
are  such  good  friends,"  the  old  woman  said  with  a 
wicked  smile,  as  she  looked  at  Dr.  Leigh,  whose  face 
had  become  suddenly  deathly  pale. 

"Are  you  not  well.  Doctor?"  Mrs.  Skinker  asked 
maliciously,  her  nostrils  vibrating  and  her  eyes  snap- 
ping.^ 

"  Yes— no,  I  am  not  feeling  well,"  said  Dr.  Leigh, 
pushing  his  chair  back,  with  ill-concealed  impatience  to 
get  away,  restrained  by  a  sense  of  politeness. 

Mrs.  Skinker  kept  time  to  the  vibrating  of  her  nos- 
trils by  snapping  her  food  vindictively.  Though  it 
seemed  to  Dr.  Leigh  she  was  eating  with  unusual  delib- 
erateness. 

The  supper  being  finished  at  length.  Dr.  Leigh  accom- 
panied them  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and  bowing,  was 
about  to  leave,  but  Mrs.  Bledsoe  again  asked  his  sup- 
port upstairs.  Thus  compelled,  he  walked  on  with  her, 
dechning  somewhat  abruptly  her  invitation  to  come 
into  her  daughter's  parlor. 

The  knowledge  of  Aliena's  engagement  was  the 
happy  inspiration  of  the  moment  to  this  astute  old 
lady.  But  she  soon  argued  herself  almost  into  its 
belief.  "What  else  than  an  engagement  to  another 
could  make  it  impossible  that  slie  and  Dr.  Leio^h 
should  ever  be  more  to  each  other  than  friends— all  the 
men  of  any  account  are  in  the  army  ;  she  would  not, 
with  her  beauty  and  money,  be  engaged  to  an  ordinary 
man,  ergo,  she  is  engagecf,  and  to  an  officer,"  aro-ued 
Mrs.  Bledsoe.  She  was  a -keen  old  ladj^  with  a^fine 
faculty  for  divination.  Her  white  hair,  venerable  ap- 
pearance, and  pious  air  would  have  made  her  invaluable 
m  the  mystic  sisterhood  of  Delphi.  A  Pythia  not 
needing  the  divine  afflatus. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y  123 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

"Evil  into  the  mind  of  God  or  man 
May  come  and  go  so  unapprov'd  and  leave 
No  spot  or  blame  behind  ;  Avhich  gives  me  hope. 
Be  not  dishearteu'd  then,  nor  cloud  those  looks 
That  wont  to  be  more  cheerful  and  serene." 

Milton  :  Paradise  Lost. 

Since  the  conversation  with  Aliena  at  the  Point  of 
Rocks,  and  the  information  that  Mrs.  Bledsoe  had  given 
him  as  to  her  engagement,  Dr.  Leigh  had  refrained  from 
seeing  her.  The  pain  which  this  announcement  had 
caused  confirmed  him  in  the  determination  that,  in 
absence.  Lay  his  only  hope  of  freedom  from  suffering. 

Except  when  engaged  in  actual  duty,  he  endeavored 
to  fill  up  his  time  with  unintermitting"^  study,  eitlier  of 
subjects  scientifically  connected  with  his  profession,  or 
which,  philosophically  considered,  might  answer  as  a 
clew^  out  of  the  Labyrinth  in  which  he  found  him- 
self involved.  Endeavoring  to  recover  at  least  that 
self-control  and  poise  which  Avould  make  duty  less  gall- 
ing, he  held  up  before  him  that  quaint  old  mirror  of 
the  mind.  Burtons'  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy.''  hi  the 
light  of  its  erudite  pages  he  tried  calmly  to  analyze  his 
own  perturbed  mind  and  affections  with  doubtful  con- 
clusions. Having  become  acquainted  with  a  cultivated 
German,  an  associate  surgeon.  Dr.  Leigh  renevred  his 
knowledge  of  that  language.  They  read  together  often 
until  past  midnight.  Schiller's  more  passionate  writings 
were  unfortunately  selected,  and,  carried  aw^ay  as  Dr. 
Leigh  always  was  by  the  creations  of  this  great  author, 
he  experienced  the  ill-effect  of  his  passionate  delinea- 
tions. They  served  responsively  to  keejD  alive  feelings, 
which,  if  he  could  not  bring  himself  entirely  to  banish, 
he  had  hoped  to  hold  sufficiently  in  abeyance  to  prevent 
that  sway  likely  only  to  be  disastrous  in  result. 

In  spite  of  his  efforts  to  the  contrary  Dr.  Leigh 
seemed  to  have  relapsed  into  an  even  more  fixed  and 


124  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

melancholy  abstraction  than  when  he  was  first  called 
to  minister  in  that  dreary  sick-room,  which  had  become 
to  him  a  hallowed  temple  of  love. 

Rumors  from  the  front  soon,  however,  assumed  such 
significance  that  he  felt  it  incumbent  upon  himself  to 
see  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  once  more,  that  he  might 
comply  with  his  promise  to  let  them  know  when  it 
should  have  become  necessary  for  them  to  seek  safety 
elsewhere. 

The  sore  pain  he  experienced  in  thought  of  a  final 
separation  from  Aliena  was  not  indicative  of  a  sound 
convalescence.  But  Dr.  Leigh  was  not  unaccustomed  to 
pain  ;  and  his  heart  suggested  that  this  was  likely  to  be 
his  normal  condition.  He  need  not,  therefore,  shrink 
from  duty  in  consideration  of  this  fact. 

It  was  a  warm  day  in  June  when  he  once  more  as- 
cended the  mountain.  He  became  more  hopeful  as  he 
neared  the  spot,  perhaps  under  the  revivifying  influence 
of  the  scenery,  and  of  the  mountain  air.  But  the 
thought  of  being  once  more  with  Aliena  was  fraught 
with  such  pleasure  to  him,  despite  every  other  circum- 
stance or  contingency,  that  this  of  itself  made  his  heart, 
throb  quicker  with  happiness. 

As  he  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain  and  made  an 
abrupt  turn,  commanding  a  beautiful  view  of  the  valley, 
his  attention  was  attracted  by  a  quick  bark  of  recogni- 
tion, and  Hugi  came  bounding  forward  into  the  road, 
jumping  from  side  to  side  in  front  of  his  horses,  thus 
attesting  his  delight  at  seeing  him.  Looking  in  the  di- 
rection from  which  the  dog  had  come.  Dr.  Leigh  saw 
Aliena  standing  at  some  distance  from  the  road,  her  hat 
off,  the  sunlight  making  a  glory  of  her  beautiful  hair. 
Aliena,  at  Hugi's  bark,  turned  and  recognized  Dr  Leigh. 
She  bowed  to  him  in  the  distance,  but  he  was  fortu- 
nately too  far  away  to  see  the  color  that  surged  to  her 
face  and  almost  as  quickly  died  out,  leaving  her  deadly 
pale. 

He  checked  his  horses,  handed  the  reins  to  his  servant, 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  125 

and  getting  out  started  toward  her.  Aliena  instinct- 
ively walked  to  meet  him — a  throng  of  emotions  agitat- 
ing her  at  being  thus  suddenly  brought  face  to  face 
with  him  once  more.  Her  obligation  for  kindness — 
their  friendship — his  possible  love — their  last  painful 
interview — the  dreadful  story  Mrs.  Bledsoe  had  told ; 
all  flashed  upon  her  in  quick  succession ;  but  she  de- 
termined as  quickly  to  give  no  sign  of  change,  what- 
ever might  be  her  belief. 

The  delicate  color  tinged  her  whole  face  as  she  met 
him.  She  hesitated  at  first  to  extend  her  hand  in  salu- 
tation, but  scorning  herself  for  this  apparent  endorse- 
ment of  the  horrible  story  Mrs.  Bledsoe  had  told,  she 
offered  her  hand. 

Raising  her  ej'es  for  the  first  time  to  Dr.  Leigh's  face 
she  met  his  sad,  steadfast  eyes  fixed  upon  her  ;  and  in- 
dignant at  herself  for  want  of  trust,  she  put  her  hand 
confidingiy  in  his.  She  relasped  into  shyness,  however, 
as  he  asked  her  to  get  in  and  drive  with  him  to  the 
hotel;  but  entering  the  carriage,  she  seated  herself  as 
far  as  possible  from  him. 

Dr.  Leigh  could  not  but  note  the  change  in  Aliena's 
manner.  Attributing  it  to  their  last  conversation  at  the 
Point  of  Rbcks,  he  felt  embarrassed  himself,  and  an 
awkward  pause  ensued.  Chilled  by  a  manner  so  unlike 
her  usual  confiding  one,  and  so  little  like  that  with 
which  she  had  parted  from  him,  he  said  formally, 
"  Miss  Graeme,  I  came  this  evening  in  compliance 
with  the  promise  to  your  mother,  to  tell  her  that,  in  all 
probability,  our  army  is  to  fall  back  from  the  front. 
In  that  case  this  may  not  be  a  safe  place  for  her  to  re- 
main." 

Aliena,  sensitive  to  manner  and  tone,  as  well  as  to 
more  subtile  influences,  could  not  but  be  impressed  by 
Dr.  Leigh's  coldness  ;  and  she  replied  in  something  of 
the  same  tone. 

"  I  know  mother  will  be  obliged  to  you  for  your 
kindness  in  remembering  us,  and  for  the  trouble  you 


126  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

have  taken  to  come  and  give  us  this  information.  I  am 
sorry  we  shoukl  prove  such  a  tax  on  your  goodness." 

Dr.  Leigh,  annoyed  and  surprised  at  Aliena's  tone 
and  manner,  which  were  even  more  objectionable  to 
him  than  the  words  themselves;  and  hurt  if  not  indig- 
nant at  the  word  ^'  tax,"  replied  in  an  equally  frigid 
tone.  "  Have  I  in  any  way,  given  you  reason  to  sup- 
pose that,  whatever  I  may  have  had  it  in  my  power  to 
do  for  you  could  be  a  tax  ?  The  word  tax  to  my  mind 
conveys  the  idea  of  an  exaction,  not  of  a  free-will  offer- 
ing. If  I  should  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  have 
conveyed  such  an  impression,  I  have  been  extremely 
unhappy  in  my  manner,  or  in  my  choice  of  terms." 

Notwithstanding  the  chilling  way  in  which  this  was 
said,  Aliena's  sense  of  the  possible  injustice  she  had  been 
doing  Dr.  Leigh  made  her  penitent.  And  feeling  that 
she  was  apparently  ungrateful  for  his  kindness  she  said, 
in  a  softened  tone,  "  Pardon  me,  if  I  have  seemed  to 
show  a  want  of  appreciation  of  your  constant  goodness 
to  us.  It  is  hard  always  to  know  and  to  do  what  is 
right.  If  I  only  make  use  of  the  wrong  w^ord  some- 
times, you  will  forgive  me?" 

Dr.  Leigh  not  only  lost  all  feeling  of  resentment,  if 
such  it  could  be  called;  but,  in  the  revulsion,  was  in 
danger  of  going  too  far  the  other  way. 

'^  I  should  rather  ask  your  forgiveness  for  a  speech 
almost  rude,  I  fear,"  he  said,  "but  pain  ma}'  make  one 
so  morbidly  sensitive  as  to  shrink  unduly  from  even  ap- 
prehended unkindness.  I  wish  you  to  believe,  and  I 
think  you  dp,  that  to  be  able  to  contribute  to  your  hap- 
piness is  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  my  life.  One 
which  requires  magnanimity  in  me  to  relinquish  it,  as 
I  must  do  when  I  come  to  tell  you  that  which  may 
make  it  impossible  for  me  ever  to  enjoy  that  privilege 
ac^ain." 

There  was  a  perceptible  shrinking  back  in  Aliena's 
tone  and  manner  as  she  replied,  "  I  must  believe  that 
it  is  a  pleasure  since  you  are  so  unfailing  in  kindness." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  127 

"  Could  joii  attribute  no  higher  motive  ?  "  said  Dr. 
Leigh,  in  a  chilled  tone. 

''  Whatever  the  motive,  mother  and  I  have  been  the 
gainers,"  Aliena  replied  in  an  assumed  tone  of  lightness 
that  jarred  upon  Dr.  Leigh. 

She  felt  a  pang  as  soon  as  the  words  had  left  her  lips. 
Glancing  at  him,  she  saw  Dr.  Leigh's  steadfast,  troubled 
eyes  lixed  upon  her  in  astonishment  and  pain  ;  not  so 
much  at  the  apparent  want  of  appreciation  of  what  he 
]jad  intended  to  convey  as  at  the  inexplicable  change 
in  her  whole  manner. 

Dr.  Leigh  made  no  reply,  and  Aliena,  shrinking  from 
the  continuation  of  a  conversation  likel}^  to  result  only 
in  pain,  felt  a  sense  of  relief  as  they  drew  up  before  the 
hotel.  Here  they  joined  Mrs.  Graeme  on  the  retired 
gallery  in  front  of  their  room. 

Dr.  Leigh  having  given  the  information  which  in- 
duced his  visit,  ]Mrs.  Graeme  at  once  determined  to  leave 
Lookout  ■  as  soon  as  possible.  She  arranged  to  stay  in 
Chattanooga  the  night  previous  to  taking  the  early 
morning  cars  for  Athens,  Georgia,  in  which  place  she 
had  some  time  since  resolved  eventually  to  take  refuge. 

Mrs.  Graeme's  manner  toward  Dr.  Leigh,  always  one 
of  marked  kindness  and  deference,  was  tinged  Avith  un- 
usual warmth  upon  this  occasion.  As  he  left,  after  a 
very  short  visit,  she  thanked  him,  not  only  for  his  kind- 
ness in  this  instance,  in  coming  to  give  her  the  infor- 
mation as  to  the  movement  of  the  army,  but  for  saving 
her  life,  perhaps,  and  for  his  many  acts  of  continued 
kindness  to  them  ;  both  during  her  illness,  and  since 
their  stay  upon  the  mountain. 

Aliena,  seating  herself  upon  a  low  stool  in  the  twi- 
light, leaned  her  head  wearily  upon  her  mother's  knee 
after  Dr.  Leigh  had  gone. 

"  Daughter,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme,  stroking  her  shining 
hair  tenderly,  "  it  seemed  to  me  that  you  were  very 
cold  and  distant  in  your  manner  toward  Dr.  Leigh  this 
evening.     I  know  you  must  feel  grateful  to  him  for  his 


128  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

kindness  to  lis,  at  a  time  too  when  we  most  needed  it ; 
and  jou  cannot  but  think  highly  of  him,  but  it  is  well  to 
show  one's  feeling  sometimes.  AVe  may  not  always  be 
so  blessed  in  friends." 

"  Do  you  tliink  I  seemed  indifferent  ?  It  Avould  cer- 
tainly distress  me  if  I  thought  so,  or  if  Dr.  Leigh  be- 
lieved me  ungrateful.  I  am  beginning  to  think  it  is 
very  hard  to  do  right,"  said  Aliena  in  a  tone  of  pro- 
found sadness. 

"  1  am  sorry  to  have  said  anything  about  it,  my  child, 
if  it  distresses  you.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  have  not 
been  as  equable  and  cheerful  lately  as  when  you  first 
came  on  the  mountain.  I  hope  nothing  troubles  you?  " 
said  Mrs.  Graeme,  tenderly. 

"  It  would  trouble  me  very  much  to  distress  joii, 
mother,"  Aliena  replied,  looking  up  into  her  mother's 
face  with  a  faint  effort  at  a  smile,  continuing,  with  a 
tremor  in  her  voice  in  spite  of  her  effort  to  seem  cheer- 
ful, as  she  laid  her  head  back  upon  her  mother's  knee. 
''  But  don't  scold  me  this  evening,  mother.  I  feel  as 
though  a  little  petting  would  do  me  more  good  than 
scolding." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"I  live  not  in  myself,  but  I  become 
Portion  of  that  around  me  ;  and  to  me 
High  mountains  are  a  feeling." 

Byron  :  Childe  Harold. 

The  following  afternoon  Aliena  went  out  for  a  fare- 
well walk,  as  she  was  to  leave  Lookout  mountain  the 
next  morning.  Her  steps  turned,  instinctively,  toward 
the  Point  of  Rocks.  H^e  she  took  her  accustomed 
seat  and  gazed  with  an  oppressive  feeling  of  sadness  at 
the  scene  before  her. 

"  The  earth  outstretched  immense,  a  prospect  wide 
And  various." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  120 

Now  that  she  was  to  bid  farewell  to  it,  perhaps  for- 
ever, a  painful  sense  of  its  loveliness  came  over  her,  as 
it  had  never  done  before. 

Lookout  liad  now  become  as  it  were  a  part  of  her 
life  ;  and  true  to  life  was  associated  in  memory  with 
both  the  painful  and  the  pleasant.  Looking,  as  we 
believe,  for  the  last  time  upon  anything,  be  it  loved  or 
otherwise,  how  wonderfully  the  mind  tones  down  what- 
ever there  may  be  of  the  unsightly  or  harsh.  How  it 
brings  out  the  beautiful  curved  lines,  the  softer  tints 
in  coloring,  disclosing  beauties  perhaps  unseen  before. 
The  painful  in  association,  if  not  dying  out,  lives  only 
in  shadows  that  brighten  sunshine  ;  to  which  memory 
even  clings  with  a  subdued  pleasure. 

Seated  here  memory  brought  in  review  to  Aliena  her 
first  visit,  set  in  its  gloomy  surroundings,  those  dreamy 
evenings  spent  alone  with  nature,  the  last  painful  inter- 
view with  Dr.  Leigh,  and  the  shuddering  horror  of  the 
evening  with  Mrs.  Bledsoe.  Here,  too,  she  had  lived 
over  in  memory  other  scenes  momentous  to  her  for 
happiness  or  woe.  Here  in  imagination  she  had  breathed 
the  soft  air  from  the  Mississippi,  surveyed  hill  and 
valley  and  'inland  sea,"  with  the  mellow  glories  of  its 
sunsets,  had  coursed  with  quickened  blood  upon  Alert, 
had  floated  upon  the  little  lake  in  the  fragrant  April 
air,  had  stood  again  under  the  swaying  banksia  rose, 
been  sprinkled  with  its  fragrant  petals,  listened  to  vows 
of  love  with  a  vague  pain  at  the  memory  of  that  time. 
Here,  too,  imagination  had  torturingiy  depicted  him  to 
whom  she  was  plighted  in  every  condition  contingent 
upon  a  starving,  besieged  city.  With  all  this  came  now 
an  undefined  sense  of  remorse,  of  fixed  pain  and  of  woe. 

With  an  effort,  she  recalled  her  thoughts  and  gave 
herself  up  to  the  enjoyment  of  her  surroundings,  with 
which  she  was  so  soon  to  part.  The  evening  breeze 
was  coming  in  fitful  gusts,  warm  and  Itixurious,  from 
the  valley  below,  fragrant  as  with  new-movrn  hay,  alter- 
nating  with   currents    of  fresher  mountain   air.     The 

9 


130  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  K 

floating  clouds,  taking  on  the  changing  hues  of  sunset, 
tinged  mountain  and  valley  with  pink  and  purple  in 
softly  melting  tints.  The  crescent  moon  came  out,  with 
the  star  of  love  nestling  in  its  lap,  and  star  after  star 
began  tremblingly  to  peep  out,  yet  Aliena  lingered, 
loth  to  go.  The  deepening  twilight  warned  her  at 
length  that  it  was  time  to  leave.  She  rose  with  a  sigh, 
and  taking  a  lingering  farewell  look,  in  her  pained  heart, 
she  said  good-bye  to  Nature,  and  to  all  the  sweet  asso- 
ciations of  this  spot.  Thus  closing  forever,  as  she  felt, 
this  sweet  and  bitter  chapter  of  her  life's  history,  she 
stooped  and  took  a  tuft  of  the  gray  moss  from  the  hcary 
old  rock,  touching  it  tenderl}'  as  she  carried  it  with  her. 

''  My  child,  I  had  begun  to  be  uneasy  about  you,"  said 
Mrs.  Graeme,  as  Aliena  appeared. 

'•  I  have  been  saying  good-bye  to  Lookout,"  said 
Aliena  sadly,  continuing  after  a  pause,  "  It  seems 
strange  how  I  feel  about  every  place  to  which  I  go. 
I  thought  it  w^ould  break  my  heart  to  leave  home.  I 
was  sorry  even  to  leave  that  old  hotel  in  Chattanocga, 
and  here,  blown  like  a  VN-aif  upon  this  mountain,  like 
some  parasitic  plant  I  seem  to  have  put  out  clasps  that 
hold  me  so  firmly  to  these  old  rocks  that  it  tears  my 
heart  to  get  me  away." 

"  It  is  well  to  find  something  for  the  heart  to  cling 
to  wherever  we  go,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme. 

''  I  don't  know^  whether  I  think  it  well  or  not, — 
between  the  happiness  and  woe  of  positive  feeling,  and 
the  nothingness  of  the  negative,  it  is  only  a  balance 
after  all.  Sometimes  I  feel  tempted  :o  wish  I  had  not 
the  power  to  feel,"  said  Aliena  sadly. 

''  ^ly  child,  I  am  astonished  at  you  for  having  such  a 
thought.  A  well  regulated  capacity  for  feeling  is  the 
greatest  possible  boon." 

"It  may  be.  But  the  getting  the  heart  into  that 
well  regulated  condition  must  be  a  work  of  time,  of 
philosophical  culture,  and  of  sore  experience.  I  some- 
times despair  of  that  happy  result." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  131 

"  If  your  father  could  only  have  lived,  you  would 
have  found  it  easier,  no  doubt,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme 
mournfully. 

'•  Ah  !  if?  Yes,  his  calm  strength  might  have  made 
many  a  pathway  easy,"  said  Aliena,  witii  such  profound 
sadness  as  sorely  to  disturb  her  mother's  mind,  dwell- 
ing as  she  did  upon  the  loss  to  her  daughter  as  well  as 
to  herself  of  that  calmly  poised,  self-reliant  mind  upon 
which  they  could  depend  now  only  through  memory. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

"  Though  ou  his  brow  were  graven  Hues  austere 
And  tranquil  sternness,  which  had  ta'en  the  place 
Of  feelings  fierier  far,  but  less  severe ; 
Joy  was  not  always  absent  from  his  face, 
But  o'er  it  in  such  scenes  would  steal  with  transient  grace." 

Byron  :  Ciiilde  Harold. 

Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  drove  from  Lookout  mount- 
ain the  afternoon  appointed,  to  Chattanooga.  The  sun 
had  not  set  when  they  arrived  at  the  hotel,  and  Aliena, 
having  laid  aside  her  hat  in  her  own  room,  went  rest- 
lessly to  the  parlor.  Here,  attracted  by  a  beautiful 
child,  dimpled  and  fair,  with  soft  rings  of  silky  hair,  in 
the  arms  of  its  nurse,  she  took  it  and  moved.to  the  win- 
dow to  divert  it  by  looking  into  the  street.  Putting- 
aside  the  crimson  curtains  that  fell  in  a  rich  background 
behind  them,  she  stood  here  ;  the  child  finding  diversion 
more  in  clutching  at  her  shining  hair,  of  which  the  last 
rays  of  the  setting  sun  were  making  a  halo,  than  in  ob- 
jects in  tlie  street. 

Here,  Dr.  Leigh,  coming  toward  the  hotel,  caught 
sight  of  Aliena  at  the  window,  and  glancing  into  the 
street  her  eyes  met  his.  Raising  his  hat,  he  crossed  the 
street  and  came  on  to  join  her. 


132  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Aliena's  heart  beat  quickly  as  she  heard  his  footsteps 
in  the  hall,  and  as  flushed  from  the  walk,  his  face  glow- 
ing with  a  glad  smile  of  welcome,  he  approached. 

"  A  devout  Catholic  might  have  been  tempted  to  fall 
upon  his  knees  and  say  a  few  Hail  IMary's,  if  he  had 
caught  sight  of  you  as  I  did  from  the  street,"  said  Dr. 
Leigh,  extending  his  hand  in  salutation. 

'^  I  am  certainly  very  glad  that  no  devout  Catholic 
was  subjected  to  such  a  temptation  then,"  Aliena  re- 
plied, smiling,  the  color  flooding  her  face. 

"  You  ought  to  be  glad  at  least  of  the  power  to  in- 
spire such  an  impulse." 

"  I  think  in  this  case  I  ought  rather  to  be  glad  of 
the  omnipotent  power  of  public  opinion,  which  would 
have  prevented  the  adoration  of  a  very  unw^orthy  ob- 
ject ;  especially  in  so  public  a  manner." 

"  That  a  Avoman's  face  is  capable  of  suggesting  the 
ideal  Madonna  ought  to  plead  for  him,  even  before  that 
inexorable  bar,  public  opinion,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  looking 
into  the  clear  depths  of  the  eyes  before  him  witli  an  ex- 
quisite sense  of  happiness  in  Aliena's  presence  which 
made  him  oblivious  to  everything  else. 

The  baby  ceasing  to  find  Dr.  Leigh  an  interesting 
study,  or  to  be  entertained  b}-  the  conversation,  began  to 
indicate  that  fact  by  vigorous  efforts.to  get  from  Aliena's 
arms  to  the  nurse.  She  checked  him  long  enough  to 
take  a  parting  kiss  from  the  little  wide-open  moist  mouth. 

Becoming  conscious  of  Dr.  Leigh's  eyes  fixed  upon 
her,  Mrs.  Bledsoe's  revolting  story  came  painfully  to 
her  mind.  Penitent  at  this  thought  she  said,  "How 
can  you  reconcile  prayer  to  the  Madonna  with  the 
charge,  which  I  sometimes  think  is  true,  that  woman  is 
harder  and  less  forgiving  in  judgment  than  man?  " 

"  That  the  Madonna  is  so  constantly  appealed  to,  is, 
I  think,  in  its  self  a  reputation  of  such  a  charge.  In 
fact  I  believe  it  is  oftener  charged  that  woman  is  not 
only  prone  to  forgive,  but  to  admire  and  even  to  love 
the  most  audacious  sinners,"  said  Dr.  Leigh. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  133 

"  If  there  is  trutli  in  that  charge,  it  must  arise  from 
their  seeming  heroism.  From  tlie  God  and  man  defy- 
ing audacity,  abhorrent  as  it  is,  that  great  sinners  some- 
times assume,  which  gives  them  a  certain  fascination,  a 
sort  of  dazzling  grandeur  like  Milton's  Satan,  for  in- 
stance," said  Aliena. 

''  I  believe  cowardice  is  the  one  unpardonable  sin  with 
woman,''  said  Dr.  Leigh. 

"  I  can't  see  how  there  could  be,  with  man  or  woman, 
any  grand  heroic  ideal  without  perfect  courage,"  said 
Aliena. 

"  Certainly  not.  But  is  it  always  the  highest  courage 
that  is  most  admired  by  woman  ?  That  courage  which 
alone  can  make  a  man  a  hero  in  any  true  sense  of  the 
word,  moral  courage.  The  courage  to  conquer  self — to 
live  for  the  highest  possibilities  of  man's  nature,  and  not 
for  what  is  lowest  and  basest.  The  god-like  element, 
not  the  animal.  Or  is  Rochester  a  true  type  of  a  wo- 
man's hero  ?  A  man,  oblivious  not  only  to  what  was 
elevated  and  grand,  but  even  to  man's  first  duty.  The 
protection  of  the  woman  he  loves,  even  against  himself. 
One  who  could  repay  such  love,  so  exquisitely  depicted, 
as  that  of  Jane  Eyre,  by  utter  selfishness,  deception, 
and  basest  contemplated  wrong.  A  sort  of  wandering 
satyr,  unblushing  in  confessed  shame,  who  was  mirac- 
ulously to  be  transformed  by  the  power  of  love,  and  that 
of  the  most  brutish  form  into  fitness  for  the  love  of  such 
a  woman  as  the  heroine  of  that  story." 

Aliena  stood  listening  eagerly  with  glowing  face  as 
Dr.  Leigh  spoke.  Suddenly  the  light  died  out  from  her 
face  for  some  reason,  as  he  ceased,  and  apparently  un- 
conscious that  an  answer  might  be  expected  she  turned 
from  him  with  a  sigh,  and  gazed  into  the  darkening 
street.  Becoming  vaguely  conscious  that  Dr.  Leigh 
was  studying  her  face  she  moved  unasked  to  the  piano, 
and  seating  herself  ran  her  fingers  softly  over  the  keys, 
gliding  at  length  into  the  chords,  if  chords  they  may 
be  called,  preluding  Balfe's  ''Du  bist  mir  nah  unci  dock 


134  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

%o  fern^''  music  wliicli  like  "the  rapture  of  life  does  not 
arise  unless  by  the  confluence  of  discords  with  the  sub- 
tle concords."  She  sang  in  a  low,  vibrant  voice  the 
words  to  which  the  music  gives  intense  utterance  in 
vague  3^earning  pain. 

Dr.  Leigh  had  never  heard  Aliena  sing  before,  and 
as  he  stood  as  though  transfixed  with  his  intense  pas- 
sionate eyes  fixed  upon  her  in  the  deepening  twilight, 
Aliena  felt  as  if  she  were  under  some  strange  spell.  As 
though  all  the  world  had  become  motionless,  transfixed, 
and  that  she  must  go  on  thus  forever. 

She  gave  a  shuddering  start  as  the  gong  sounding  for 
tea  jarred  upon  her,  painfully  breaking  the  spell. 

When  later  in  the  evening  Mrs.  Graeme  returned  to 
her  room  from  the  parlor,  she  found  Aliena  seated  by 
the  window,  her  face  supported  in  her  hand,  her  eyes 
fixed  upon  Lookout  mountain,  outlined  black  in  the 
distance  against  the  sky. 

"  You  left  the  parlor  very  unceremoniously  daughter, 
Mrs.  Bledsoe  and  Mrs.  Skinker  left  good-night  for  you, 
and  said  they  would  tr}^  to  be  up  in  time  to  see  us  off  in 
the  morning,  and  say  good-bye,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme. 

"  I  would  be  glad  never  to  see  those  people  again. 
I  wish  they  would  not  trouble  themselves  to  say  good- 
bye to  me,"  said  Aliena  with  strange  bitterness. 

"Daughter,  I  would  not  express  myself  so  harshly  if 
I  were  you,"  Mrs.  Graeme  said  gravely  but  gently. 

"  I  have  no  faith  in  either  of  them,"  Aliena  continued 
in  a  bitter  tone. 

"  You  should  not  judge  harshly  my  child.  Mrs.  Bled- 
soe is  an  afflicted  old  woman,  and  apparently  a  very 
pious  one.  As  to  Mrs.  Skinker  you  cannot  expect 
every  one  to  come  up  to  your  own  standard,  and  it 
takes  a  variety  of  people  to  make  a  world." 

"  The  less  I  see  of  the  world  then  the  better,"  said 
Aliena  with  continued  bitterness. 

"  If  others  do  wrong  you  cannot  remedy  it  by  doing 
wror.g  yourself.     Try  to  practice  charity,  my  child.     It 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  135 

is  wrong  to  allow  one's  self  to  Ije  carried  away  hj  preju- 
dice," said  Mrs.Graeme,  and  seating  herself  by  another 
window  she  sat  silently  absorbed  in  thought. 

Aliena,  penitent  at  having  as  she  feared,  troubled  her 
mother,  soon  rose,  and  approaching  put  her  arms  ten- 
derl}'  around  her,  and,  trying  to  smile,  said,  "-  Mother, 
don't  let  my  foolish  whims  trouble  you,  I  am  like  the 
Aveather  I  suppose,  the  better  for  a  little  thunder  gust," 
and  kissing  her  tenderly  good  night  she  retired  to  her 
own  room. 

Dr.  Leigh,  having  gone  to  his  room  after  tea,  had 
taken  up  a  book  with  the  intention,  if  possible,  of  pre- 
venting his  mind  from  going  over  the  same  weary 
round,  coming  alwaj^s  to  the  same  dreary  conclusion, 
which  had  tormented  him  of  late.  But  soon  hopeless 
of  fixing  his  thoughts  upon  the  book,  he  laid  it  down 
and  started  to  the  hospital.  Having  gone  the  rounds 
here  he  was  returning  to  the  hotel,  when  raising  his  eyes, 
longing  for  another  glimpse  of  Aliena,  he  saw  her  at 
that  moment  bending  over  her  mother,  tenderly  kiss- 
ing her  good  night.  A  profound  sigh  escaped  him. 
Regardless  of  his  steps,  he  stumbled  against  some  one 
moving  on  before  him. 

'•  Pardon  me,"  he  said,  as  a  beautiful  girlish  face  with 
great  startled  black  eyes  turned  toward  him. 

''  It  is  I  who  should  say  pardon.    I  was — " 

"  Zara,  what  for  is  it  that  you  do  not  keep  up.  I  can- 
not that  I  attend  to  you  and  all  the  things,"  inter- 
rupted a  gruff  voice,  from  a  slouching,  sinister  looking 
man  Avho  was  walking  on  ahead. 

"  I  am  coming,"  she  said  in  a  peculiarly  musical 
voice,  hastening  her  footsteps. 

"  That  voice  is  singularly  out  of  accord  with  that  of 
her  companion,"  Dr.  Leigh  thought.  "  I  should  judge 
from  it  that  she  was  refined  as  well  as  young  and  beau- 
tiful." And  his  thoughts  wandered,  as  they  were  too 
prone  to  do,  to  another,  whose  voice  came  to  his  mind, 
flexible,  rippling  as  sunshine  upon  water,  full  of  pathos. 


136  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

capable  of  expressing  the  deepest  emotion,  sympathetic, 
changing,  sensitive  as  the  delicate  nature  of  which  it 
was  an  index. 

Re-entering  the  hotel,  he  returned  to  his  room,  filled 
Avith  the  gloom  of  the  thought  that,  after  to-night,  he 
might  never  again  be  under  the  same  roof  with  her 
whom  he  loved  her,  for  whom  his  whole  being  longed. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Friar.     "  I  '11  give  thee  armor  to  keep  off  that  word, 
Adversity's  sweet  milk,  philosophy, 
To  comfort  thee  though  thou  art  banished. 

Romeo.     Yet  banished  ?     Hang  up  philosophy, 
Unless  philosophy  can  make  a  Juliet." 

Dr.  Leigh  was  up  early  the  next  morning;  he  had,  in 
fact,  scarcely  slept  at. all.  Hearing  a  Avoman's  voice  in 
the  hall,  supposing  it  might  be  Aliena,  he  stepped  from 
his  room  to  meet  her.  But  instead,  he  encountered  the 
same  beautiful  girl  he  had  met  the  night  before.  She 
was  apparently  foreign,  either  Spanish  or  Italian,  with 
great  black  eyes,  waving,  silky  black  hair,  straight,  del- 
icate features,  and  a  clear  olive  complexion. 

She  was  accompanied  by  the  same  middle-aged  man, 
also  foreign  in  appearance,  whose  heavy,  overhanging 
black  brows  gave  his  deep-set  black  eyes  a  particularly 
disagreeable,  sinister  expression,  which  was  not  im- 
proved by  his  unkempt  black  beard  and  hair. 

"  Which  way  is  it  that  you  turn  to  go  ?  "  said  the 
man,  addressing  the  girl  in  a  gruff  voice. 

'^  I  did  not  notice,"  the  girl  replied  in  clear,  musical 
tones,  which  Dr.  Leigh  also  recognized  as  the  same  he 
had  heard  the  night  before.  Stepping  forward,  with 
that  air  of  quiet  ease  which  always  characterized  his 
bearing,  and  with  that  deference  natural  to  him  in  ad- 
dressing a  woman,  he  said  "Allow  me  to  show  you  the 


THE  FEET  OF  CZA  Y.  137 

way,"  and  he  walked  on  with  them  to  the  side  hall  in 
which  were  the  steps. 

The  man  made  no  acknowledgment  of  this  courtesy, 
but  the  girl  thanked  him  in  a  low  voice,  her  face  crim- 
soning as  she  met  his  eye,  and  drawing  up  the  mantle 
which  had  slipped  from  her  shoulders,  she  moved  on. 
Dr.  Leigh  now  went  on  to  the  parlor,  where  he  found 
Aliena,  awaiting  her  mother.  Proffering  his  hand  in 
salutation,  he  said,  "  And  you  are  really  going?  " 

''  I  am  sure  you  ought  to  know,  since  you  banished 
us,"  said  Aliena,  with  the  sickliest  ghost  of  a  smile  that 
vanished  with  tlie  color  from  her  face,  as  she  raised  her 
eyes  and  caught  the  look  of  fixed  pain  upon  the  face 
before  her. 

'*  That  I  have  done  so  shows  how  much  more  I  have 
thought  of  others  than  of  myself,"  he  replied  in  a  low 
voice.  And  longing  for  some  word  to  illumine  the 
dead  blank  future  before  him,  he  continued,  ''  Have 
you  no  word  of  regret  at  parting  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  strange  if  I  felt  no  regret,  when  you 
have  been  so  unswervingly  kind  to  us,  forlorn  as  we 
would  otherwise  have  been,"  she  said,  her  voice  fal- 
tering. And  remembering  Avhat  her  mother  had 
said  about  her  seeming  ingratitude,  she  continued, 
'*  Let  us  hope  to  meet  again,  and  that  I  may  be  better 
able  then  to  show  how  truly  I  do  appreciate  your  good- 
ness." 

"  If  I  could  only  be  oblivious  m^^self  to  the  pain  of 
parting,  I  might  seem  less  forgetful  of  the  debt  I  owe 
you.  In  restoring  my  faith  in  woman  ;  and  in  bright- 
ening my  stay  here  into  an  oasis  in  the  dreariness  of  my 
life — into  which  it  must  again  lapse." 

^Irs.  Graeme  joining  them,  they  walked  on  silently  to 
the  breakfast  room. 

As  they  left  the  dingy,  low-pitched  room,  with  its 
rows  of  long  tables,  and  its  quaint  old  fans,  which  the 
unnaturally  pious  looking  negro  boy  w^as  still  droning 
ua,  Aliena  lingered   behind   and   placed  in   the   boy's 


138  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

hand  a  sum  of  money  which  served  to  keep  hmi  awake 
for  at  least  the  remainder  of  that  day. 

As  Aliena  walked  on  to  the  carriage  she  went  over 
painfully  in  her  mind  the  time  from  when  by  an  appar- 
ent chance  they  had  been  brought  to  a  painful  halt 
here  until  now.  It  was  with  a  sore,  vague  pain  that  she 
felt  it  was  all  ended  now. 

Entering  the  carriage  which  awaited  them,  the}'  were 
driven  to  the  cars.  Here  they  had  scarcely  more  than 
time  to  be  seated  when  the  signal  for  departure  sounded. 
Dr.  Leigh  looked  yearningly  into  Aliena's  eyes,  but 
spoke  no  word  of  farewell  as  he  pressed  her  hand  in 
parting. 

Aliena's  e3'es  sought  Dr.  Leigh  as  the  cars  moved  off. 
He  stood  v/aiting  with  his  hat  lifted  as  tliey  swept  by. 
Her  heart  throbbed  as  she  caught  the  look  of  repressed 
agony  in  his  pale  face,  his  compressed  mouth,  and  his 
intense  longing  eyes.     And  they  w^ere  gone. 

Aliena  drew  her  veil  over  her  face.  It  was  well,  per- 
haps, that  Dr.  Leigh  could  not  see  the  quivering  lips 
and  the  great  silent  tears  which  forced  themselves  from 
under  the  long  dark  lashes  and  dro23ped  uj)on  the  list- 
less hands  lying  in  her  lap. 

They  sped  on  through  the  dense  cloud  of  silvery  mist 
that  softly  rose  and  fell  in  great  restless  billows  upon 
the  crystal  water  of  the  Tennessee,  until  before  the  ris- 
ing sun  it  rolled  rapidly  away,  disclosing  the  beauties 
of  the  valley,  as  they  swept  on  beside  the  river  or 
crossed  and  recrossed  its  sinuous  line,  over  wide-span- 
ning bridges,  while  islands  in  emerald  greenness  ap- 
peared in  the  far-spreading  river;  and  sun-capped  mount- 
ains loomed  beyond  in  the  distant  blue  gray  haze. 

Aliena,  aroused  to  consciousness  of  her  surroundings 
by  the  beautiful  scenery  through  wliich  they  were  pass- 
ing, was  attracted  at  length  by  the  beauty  of  a  girlish 
face  at  some  distance  from  her  in  the  rear  of  the  same 
car.  Leaning  forward  to  Avhere  her  mother  sat,  she 
said,  "  Look  at  that  beautiful  girl  at  the  back  of  the 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  139 

car,  mother.  Is  n't  she  lovely  ?  She  reminds  me  of 
Guido's  exquisite  Beatrici  Cenci  we  saw  at  the  Collona 
palace." 

*'  She  is  beautiful  indeed.  But  the  man  with  her  is 
far  from  being  agreeable  looking,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme. 

"  The  girl  is  so  lovely  I  had  not  thought  of  him," 
said  Aliena. 

The  next  day  they  changed  cars  from  the  main  road 
to  a  branch  road  leading  to  Athens  as  a  terminus,  and 
Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  began  now  to  experience  that 
anxious,  restless  feeling  incident  upon  arriving  in  a 
strange  place,  with  the  prospect  of  an  indefinite  sojourn 
among  strangers.  The  beautiful  girl  and  her  less  pre- 
possessing companion  they  observed,  had  also  changed 
cars,  with  the  same  apparent  destination.  Aliena's  quick 
sympathy  had  been  elicited  by  the  shrinking  manner  of 
the  girl,  and,  as  she  thought,  the  rather  tyrannical  air 
of  the  stronger  party. 

As  they  neared  Athens,  the  rolling  country  that  met 
her  eyes  rejoiced  Aliena  with  a  touch  of  home ;  though 
it  assumed  marked  characteristic  features,  distinctive 
from  the  black  soil  of  the  Walnut  Hills,  in  the  red  clay, 
glistening  with  mica  as  with  diamond  dust. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"All  weary  and  o'er  watched, 
Take  vantage,  heavy  eyes. 
Fortune,  good-night ;  smile,  once  more  turn  thy  wheel." 

Arriving  at  Athens,  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  drove 
from  the  depot,  as  is  usual,  through  the  least  attractive 
portion  of  the  place,  and  halted  in  front  of  an  unpre- 
tentious looking  hotel,  which  stood  at  the  corner  of  a 


140  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

square.     Ornamentiil  iron  galleries,  fronting  upon  the 
streets,  relieved  the  monotony  of  the  building. 

A  tall,  stout  man  of  about  forty,  compactly  com- 
pressed into  a  suit  of  black  cloth,  upon  which  was  the 
shine  of  wear  rather  than  of  finish,  came  forward  to 
meet  them,  as  the  carriage  stopped,  preceded  by  a 
strong  odor  of  musk.  His  rigidity  of  movement  was 
possibly  due  to  the  difficulty  experienced  in  moving  his 
compressed  joints,  if  joints  there  were.  For  no  more 
angularity  denoted  that  fact  than  if  he  had  been  con- 
structed upon  the  principles  of  a  mammoth  doll — tlie 
cloth  sewed  first  and  filled  in  afterward. 

Colonel  Decca,  the  landlord,  why  colonel  nobody 
knew,  accosted  them  in  a  choked  voice,  and  assisted 
Mrs.  Graeme  and  Alien^^from  the  carriage. 

The  usual  group  of  loungers  and  loafers  were  gathered 
at  the  corner,  to  see  the  daily  advent,  if  there  were  any 
such,  of  strangers  in  this  quiet  place.  The  thick  veils  of 
these  ladies  preventing  satisfactory  information  as  to 
their  faces,  surmises  were  resorted  to. 

Loafer  number  one. — "•  The  one  with  the  trim  figure 
and  springy  step  is  young,  I  know." 

Loafer  number  two. — "  Yes,  by  jove,  there  is  style 
about  the  way  she  moves.  And  did  you  see  the  dainty 
little  foot  and  gaiter?" 

Loafer  number  three. — "  They  must  be  from  the  4ow 
country '  b}^  the  look  of  that  old  negro  Avoman ;  you 
can  tell  that  by  the  tie  of  her  head-handkerchief." 

Loafer  number  four. — "  What  a  splendid  dog  !  There 
is  nothing  more  graceful  or  prettier  in  dog  flesh  than  a 
greyhound." 

Li  the  meantime  Colonel  Decca  led  the  way  up- 
stairs to  the  parlor,  where,  seating  the  ladies,  he  re- 
quested their  names  and  residence,  in  a  more  choked 
voice  than  ever,  consequent  upon  the  exertion  of  as- 
cending the  steps,  and,  promising  to  send  a  servant  to 
show  them  to  their  rooms,  he  retired.  Before  assign- 
ing  them  rooms  he  went  to   see  the  baggage   of  the 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  141 

travelers,  the  gauge  of  their  status  to  a  landlord.  From 
these  he  determined  to  send  them  the  keys  to  the  best 
rooms  vacant  in  the  house.  He  now  proceeded  to 
register  their  names,  while  loafer  number  five  looked 
over  his  shoulder,  and  returned  to  the  corner  with  the 
desired  information. 

Tired,  and  consequently  the  more  dispirited,  Mrs. 
Graeme  and  Aliena  were  glad  to  get  to  their  rooms, 
which,  as  Aliena  was  delighted  to  see,  had  an  out-look 
upon  the  University  grounds,  a  street  onl}-  intervening. 
Scattered  picturesquely  here  and  there,  under  the  grand 
old  oaks  and  elms,  the  forest  growth  of  centuries,  were 
the  University  buildings.  Some  of  them,  coeval  with 
the  institution  itself,  quaint  and  old,  were  overgrown 
with  iv}^ — others  more  modern  ^nd  ornate  seemed  gar- 
ishly new. 

As  Aliena  stood  at  the  window  the  chapel  bell  struck 
six,  with  an  ominous  sound  of  Avarning  as  it  seemed  to 
her,  as  she  counted  the  deep,  slow,  solemn  strokes. 

Loth  to  give  way  to  their  feeling  of  loneliness  b}'  re- 
maining in  their  rooms,  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  having 
rid  themselves  of  the  dust  of  travel,  again  sought  the 
parlor.  Seated  at  the  piano,  hammering  vigorously 
upon  the  few  chords  that  constituted  the  accompani- 
ment to  a  popular  ballad  of  that  time,  was  a  young  girl 
of  about  sixteen,  who  was  singing  verse  after  verse  of 
Lorena  in  a  vigorous,  unmodulated  tone,  with  all  the 
energy  not  exhausted  by  the  accompaniment.  She  was 
quite  pretty,  with  regular  features,  black  hair,  and  blue 
eyes.  She  was  evidently  in  that  trying  state,  too  over- 
grown for  a  child,  yet  not  quite  a  woman.  Her  hair  in 
the  same  doubtful  status  was  hanging  loose  upon  her 
shoulders. 

Near  the  piano  sat  a  quiet,  gentlemanly  looking  young 
man  of  twenty-four  or  five.  He  was  apparently  less  in- 
terested in  the  music  than  in  the  sport  of  some  children, 
who  were  rolling  and  tumbling  over  each  other  in  the 
center  of  the  room.     They  were  laughing  and  chatter- 


142  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

iiig  in  their  noisy  play,  in  a  way  that  would  have  neu- 
tralized less  vigorous  sounds  than  those  of  the  per- 
former and  songstress. 

The  young  girl,  having  sung  six  verses  of  Lorena, 
ceased  her  musical  efforts  and  began  a  rather  giggling 
conversation  with'the  young  man.  The  children  losing 
the  inspiration  of  the  music,  and  the  cover  that  it  had 
given  to  their  noisy  sport,  lapsed  suddenly  into  com- 
parative quiet,  casting  furtive  glances  at  Mrs.  Graeme 
and  Aliena,  with  an  occasional  remark  in  a  Ioav  tone, 
followed  by  a  bashful  snicker,  as  though  but  just  aware 
of  the  presence  of  strangers.  But  Col.  Decca  soon 
coming  in  announced  tea  and  ushered  them  into  the 
supper-room,  after  which  they  went  to  their  rooms, 
a  prey  to  that  feeling  so  often  experienced  by  travelers, 
that  the  hoped  for  happiness  at  the  terminus  of  a  jour- 
ney is  not  less  illusive  than  the  bag  of  gold  at  the  foot 
of  a  rainbow. 

Mrs.  Graeme,  looking  worn  and  weary,  soon  retired 
for  the  night,  and  Aliena  went  to  her  own  room.  But 
instead  of  seeking  sleep  she  seated  herself  at  the  win- 
dow and  sat  watching  the  occasional  forms  moving  in 
the  dimly  lighted  street,  or  disappearing  with  a  clash  of 
the  great  iron  gate  into  the  shadows  of  the  campus. 
She  pictured  in  imagination  their  aims  and  ambitions, 
their  hopes  and  disappointments,  their  homes  and  loved 
ones — with  a  sore,  aching  pain  at  her  own  heart. 

A  more  utter  feeling  of  loneliness  came  over  her  as 
even  these  forms  ceased  to  appear,  and  everything  was 
still  except  the  distant  sound  of  falling  water,  an"d  the 
monotonous  cry  of  a  ''  Avhip-poor-will,"  i^epeated  over  and 
over  again  in  the  distance.  She  raised  her  eyes,  gazing 
upward  at  the  stars  in  their  sIoav,  ceaseless  motion, 
vaguely  fancying  the  twinkling  far-away  stars  to  be  the 
weary  sleepless,  blinking  eyes  of  some  lost,  lonely  spirit, 
moving  eternally  on  in  silence  and  solitude. 

She  thought  with  heart-longing  of  home.  Of  the 
hand  now  moldering  in  the  dust,  that  could  never  more 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  143 

be  outstretched  to  draw  lier  back  to  the  ark  of  love 
from  her  heart-sore  wandering.  Slie  wondered  if  at  the 
old  hotel  at  Chattanooga  there  might  be  one  gazing  in 
loneli-ness  and  sorrow  at  the  same  eyes  looking  down  in 
l)ity  from  above.  And  with  a  guilty  pang  she  thought 
of  one  cordoned  by  guns,  suffering  and  in  peril.  She 
gave  herself  up  despaiiingiy  to  remorse — to  pain  and  sor- 
row, to  home  sickness  and  heart-longing  for  loved  ones 
and  objects. 

The  old  chapel  bell  startled  her  in  the  stillness,  clash- 
ing midnight.  And  striving  to  thrust  aside  torturing 
thought,  she  sought  sleep. 

The  following  afternoon  Aliena  induced  her  mother 
to  drive  with  her.  Colonel  Decca  appeared  as  they 
were  about  to  enter  the  carriage  to  assist  them  in.  He 
was  preceded  as  usual  by  the  odor  of  musk,  and  look- 
ing, if  possible,  more  compressed  in  his  worn,  shiny  suit 
of  black  cloth.  Aliena  shrank  instinctively  from  the 
touch  of  his  clammy  hand,  proffered  to  assist  her  into  the 
carriage,  though  Mrs.  Graeme  accepted  the  assistance. 

Owing  to  the  altitude  of  the  place,  and  to  its  near- 
ness to  the  mountains,  the  air  was  charmingly  fresh  and 
sparkling.  They  drove  on,  through  streets  over-arched 
by  forest  trees,  past  beautiful  homes  dotted  here  and 
there  upon  the  sloping  hillsides,  in  the  midst  of  the 
forest  growth  left  standing,  now  interspersed  with 
hedges,  plats  of  flowers,  graveled  walks  and  drives 
winding  gracefully  through  grounds  adorned,  perhaps, 
with  statuary  and  fountains. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and,  Avalking  to  church, 
they  entered  the  vestibule  of  the  large  but  unpreten- 
tious looking  building.  Here  they  were  met  by  the 
sexton,  a  tall,  thin,  pompous-looking,  old  negro  man, 
dressed  in  clerical  black.  Recognizing  the  fact  that 
they  were  strangers  he  approached  with  a  formal  mili- 
tary salute,  adopted  in  compliment  to  the  times,  and 
with  a  second  wave  of  his  hand  to  his  head,  he  said,  ad- 
dressing  Mrs.  Graeme, 


144  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  Mum,  I  reprehend  that  you  are  strangers.  Would 
you  desire  that  I  mout  resignate  you  a  pew,  mum  ?  "  and 
he  gave  another  flourish  of  his  hand  to  his  head,  bowing 
as  he  did  so. 

"  If  you  please,"  Mrs.  Graeme  replied. 

But  as  he  was  about  to  enjoy  what  he  considered  one 
of  his  greatest  privileges,  that  of  "  resignating  "  pews, 
an  old  gentleman,  who  had  just  entered,  approached. 

There  was  something  particularly  striking  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  this  gentleman.  He  wore  his  hair,  which 
was  almost  perfectly  white,  in  natural  curls  to  his 
shoulders,  over  a  dress  coat  of  finest  cloth,  which  might 
suitably  have  been  of  velvet,  with  point  d'Alen^on  ruffles 
instead  of  the  conventional  linen  cuffs  and  collar,  which 
showed  at  his  wrists  and  above  his  white  brocaded  silk 
neck-kerchief. 

Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  recognized  him  at  once  as 
Judge  Massey,  whom  they  had  met  in  Italy.  Mrs. 
Graeme's  heavy  crepe  veil  and  Aliena's  development 
into  womanhood  had  prevented  his  knowing  them  at 
first.  Bat  he  greeted  them  with  evident  pleasure  as 
they  made  themselves  known,  though  with  a  grave,  dig- 
nified formality  which  was  natural  Avith  him,  and  in- 
vited them  to  take  seats  in  his  pew. 

Promptly  at  the  moment  when  the  vibrations  from 
the  great  bell  ceased  to  resound  through  the  church,  the 
minister  rose,  in  the  simple  but  beautiful  white  marble 
pulpit,  and  stood  with  his  hands  raised  to  invoke  the 
divine  blessing. 

His  striking  figure  was  made  more  effective  by  the 
background  of  rich  crimson  velvet  hangings.  His  tall 
venerable  form  was  squarely  and  muscularly  built,  his 
white  hair  surmounted  a  high  broad  forehead,  and  his 
gray  eyes  had  not  lost  that  look  of  an  eagle's,  which 
was  natural  to  him,  though  he  was  more  than  seventy 
years  old. 

He  had  an  awed  look  of  reverence  in  ministering  in 
divine  things,  as  though  entering  the  Holy  of  Holies. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  145 

As  of  one  called  to  declare  the  whole  testimony  of  God, 
who  has  dedicated  his  life  to  the  service  of  the  Divine 
Master,  and  who  stands  as  it  were  in  the  vestibule  of 
that  Upper  Temple  into  which  he  must  soon  be  called 
to  render  an  account  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 

The  solemn  sound  of  the  organ  and  the  singing  ac- 
corded well  with  the  other  services,  which  were  con- 
ducted with  simplicity  and  with  an  air  of  profound  con- 
sciousness of  responsibility  for  souls. 

So  impressed  and  absorbed  were  Mrs.  Graeme  and 
Aliena  in  the  services  as  to  be  oblivious  to  everything 
else  until  the  benediction  was  pronounced.  Strangers 
as  they  were,  they  had  not  escap^ed  the  eye  of  the  min- 
ister, who  called  the  following  day,  as  did  Mrs.  and  Miss 
Massey  to  see  them. 

Mrs.  Graeme  found  herself  conversing  with  unusual 
freedom,  not  only  with  those  she  had  known  before, 
but  with  the  fatherly  old  man,  whose  deep  interest  and 
sympathy  in  the  hardships  and  sorrows  to  which,  by 
war,  they  had  so  recently  been  subjected,  stimulated 
their  recital. 

''  My  daughter,"  he  said  earnestly,  as  he  was  leaving, 
"  remember  that  there  is  One  vrho  has  promised  to  be 
a  husband  to  the  widow  and  a  father  to  the  fatherless. 
One  who  does  not  willingly  afflict,  who  cares  for  you  as 
no  earthly  parent  could,  whose  minister  I  am ;  and  if  I 
can  serve  you  I  shall  feel  it  a  privilege  to  do  so." 

10 


146  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

"  Living  in  shattered  guise,  and  still,  and  cold, 
And  bloodless ;  with  its  sleepless  sorrow  aches, 
Yet  withers  on." 

The  great  storm  of  war  which  was  sweeping  with 
relentless  fury  over  the  country  was  scarcely  felt  in 
Athens,  except  in  anxiety  as  to  loved  ones  in  the  army. 
Torn  and  tossed  as  Aliena's  heart  and  mind  were  by 
the  agonizing  pain  of  uncertainty,  banished  from  home 
and  from  loved  ones,  with  Vicksburg  constantly  and 
fearfully  imperiled,  the  seeming  want  of  interest  here 
jarred  upon  her.  But,  finding  she  could  have  opportu- 
nity daily  to  mingle  her  prayers  with  those  of  otliers  for 
her  country,  for  the  soldiers  enduring  peril  and  hardship 
in  its  defense,  and  for  the  longed  for  white-winged  mess- 
enger of  peace,  she  went  alone  to  the  gothic,  ivy-grown 
chapel  in  the  University  grounds.  Here  she  bowed  in 
heartfelt  supplication,  not  only  for  others  but  for  her- 
self, torn  as  she  was  by  distracting,  conflicting  emo- 
tions. 

The  quiet  earnestness  of  this  service  did  seem  to  calm 
and  strengthen  her  sorely  troubled  heart.  And  coming 
out  she  strolled  on  through  the  quiet  streets,  seeing 
with  a  throb  of  mingled  pain  and  pleasure  flowers 
which,  like  familiar  faces  in  strange  surroundings, 
brought  with  them  tender  recollections  of  home,  their 
odors  more  than  sight,  even  bringing  throbbing  memo- 
ries of  the  past,  its  sorrows  and  its  pleasures. 

Aliena  one  afternoon  leaving  the  chapel  to  which  she 
now  daily  resorted,  met  Jennie  Foster,  the  songstress 
from  the  hotel,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Marsden,  who  had 
been  seated  by  the  piano  upon  a  former  occasion,  and 
by  the  children,  with  whom  Aliena  had  now  become 
fast  friends.  They  had  started  for  a  stroll  in  the  ceme- 
tery in  which  they  invited  Aliena  to  join ;  she  gladly 
accepted  their  invitation,  and  they  resumed  their  walk. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  147 

They  soon  came  in  view  of  this  beautiful  spot,  and, 
walking  on  entered  through  an  imposing  iron  gateway, 
the  gloomy  place.  The  cemetery  was  trianguLar  in 
form,  occupying  the  space  lying  between  the  Occonee 
river  and  a  small  tributary  branch.  Higher  up  the 
river  moved  in  nois}^  rapids,  falling  here  and  there  with 
a  roaring  sound  over  the  ledges  of  rock  to  the  lower 
ground ;  w^ere,  under  great  overhanging  trees  and  vines, 
it  scarcely  seemed  to  move  at  all,  growing  black  in  its 
slugglish  flow  onward  in  the  dark  shadows. 

The  brook  went  leaping,  flashing  and  sparkling  on 
under  less  dense,  but  overarching  trees,  between  rocky 
banks  covered  with  clinging  mosses,  lichens  and  ferns ; 
breaking  into  white  foam  over  rocks  ;  or  ri])pling  on 
with  babbling  sound  to  its  junction  with  the  river ;  the 
two  streams  keeping  up  together  unceasing  musical 
chords  in  the  murmur,  tinkle,  splash,  and  roar  of  the 
falling  Avater. 

Jennie  and  Mr.  Marsden  had  gone  on  before  ;  the 
children,  charmed  with  the  wild  flowers,  or  enchanted 
with  the  pebbly  bottomed  leaping  brook,  lingered  upon 
its  banks  ;  while  Aliena,  strolling  on,  was  soon  sepa- 
rated from  them. 

Following  one  of  the  winding  graveled  pathways, 
she  found  herself  at  length  upon  a  hill-top  which  com- 
manded an  extended  view.  It  was  the  highest  point 
in  the  cemetery,  as  she  discovered  when  taking  a  sweep- 
ing view  of  the  scene. 

To  the  forest  growth  of  pines,  oaks,  and  cedars 
abounding  here  had  been  added  larches,  hemlocks, 
deodars  and  other  evergreens  ;  and  mingled  with  the 
wild  flowers  which  grew  in  rich  profusion  were  others 
which,  carefully  tended,  enhanced  the  natural  beauty  of 
the  place. 

Aliena  from  her  elevated  position  could  see,  here  and 
there,  above  the  trees,  the  grander  monuments  with 
their  caps  gleaming  in  the  sunshine.  Above  them  all, 
at  some  distance,  rose  a  rarely  beautiful  mausoleum. 


148  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

A  gothic  temple,  exquisite  in  outline,  of  purest  Italian 
marble,  Avliicli,  as  she  afterwards  found,  marked  where 
a  young  wife  and  child  lay.  Under  the  overarching 
canopy  above  the  vault  stood  in  deathless  marble  the 
figure  of  the  wife  with  her  child  in  her  arms.  Above 
the  columns  supporting  the  canopy  were  life-sized  per- 
sonifications of  Faith,  Hope,  Charity  and  Religion,  while 
between  them  rose  the  delicately  tapering  spire,  which, 
mounting  aloft,  was  capped  by  the  flame  of  the  altar  of 
love. 

Aliena  having  looked  around  seated  herself  upon  a 
rustic  seat  with  her  back  to  the  sun,  gazing  at  the 
solemn  but  beautiful  view  of  the  rolling  hillsides,  the 
valleys,  and  river.  Before  her  was  the  Occonee  over- 
hung by  the  gnarled  old  vine-covered  trees  wdiich 
almost  ob cured  the  black  water.  Beyond  could  be 
seen  glimpses  of  the  great  hoary  rocks  that  formed  its 
precipitous  banks.  She  watched  the  shadows  growing 
blacker  and  blacker  upon  the  water,  until  it  seemed  to 
assume  a  weird  mysteriousness  in  consonance  with  the 
gloomy  surroundings,  a  somber  contrast  with  the  white, 
sun-capped,  foaming  falls  higher  up  the  river. 

Superstitious  thoughts  may  unconsciously  have 
tinged  her  mind  as  she  started  nervously  as  a  bird  rose 
near  her,  and  with  a  sudden  whir  flew  across  the  black 
water,  disappearing  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  amid 
the  branches  of  one  of  the  gnarled  trees  that  were  dip- 
ping down  into  the  water. 

Becoming  conscious  that  the  sun  had  set  and  that 
the  full  moon  was  rising  beyond  the  gray  rocks  across 
the  river,  casting  still  blacker  shadows  upon  the  water, 
Aliena  looked  around  her  with  an  unpleasant  sense  of 
loneliness  at  seeino-  and  hearinsc  no  one.  No  sound  broke 
the  stillness  but  the  falling  water  and  the  mournful  mo- 
notonous cry  of  "  whip-poor-will,"  down  by  the  river. 

Walking  to  the  other  side  of  the  hill  she  caught  sight 
of  her  party,  anxiously  awaiting  her  at  the  gate,  and 
hastening  her  footsteps  she  soon  joined  them. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  149 

"  We  were  beginning  to  think  that  some  ghost  had 
spirited  you  away,"  Jennie  said  as  Aliena  rejoined 
them. 

The  children,  either  tired,  or  depressed  by  the  grow- 
ing darkness  and  their  gloomy  surroundings,  or  by  the 
allusion  to  ghosts,  walked  on  in  silence. 

Aliena  was  too  much  engrossed  in  thought,  especially 
of  the  contemplated  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  rumors  of 
which  had  been  depressing  her  all  day,  to  feel  like  talk- 
ing Jennie  alone  seemed  irrepressible,  as,  with  Mr. 
Marsden  somewhat  in  the  rear,  her  voice  could  be  heard 
in  animated,  unflagging  tones,  she  apparently  doing  all 
the  talking. 

"  I  am  so  glad  to-morrow  will  be  the  Fourth  of  July," 
said  Jennie,  in  an  enthusiastic  tone,  as  she  joined  Mrs. 
Graeme  and  Aliena  upon  the  gallery  after  tea. 

"  Why  ?  Do  they  regard  its  celebration  here  now  ?  " 
asked  Aliena. 

''  I  don't  mean  what  you  think,  perhaps.  But  it  is 
Commencement  day  here." 

"Commencement?  I  thought  all  the  students  were 
gone  into  the  army  ?  "  said  Aliena. 

"  Yes,  they  are,  but  they  are  so  used  to  having  it  that 
we  are  to  have  music  and  an  oration,  any  way.  Don't 
you  intend  to  go.  Miss  Graeme?     Everybody  goes." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  care  to  go,"  said  Aliena  sadly, 
her  thoughts  reverting  to  other  subjects  more  absorbing 
to  her  mind. 

"  Not  go  ?  "  exclaimed  Jennie  in  surprise,  "  why  every 
one  goes  who  can." 

Aliena  could  not  but  smile  at  Jennie's  look  of  aston- 
ishment. She  had  such  ideas  of  the  importance  of  this 
grand  culminating  event  of  the  year,  that  Aliena's  in- 
difference struck  her  with  amazement.  But  weary  of 
the  sadness,  the  homesickness,  and  the  monotony  of  her 
life  Aliena  said,  smiling, 

"  Jennie,  I  believe  I  will  go  if  you  will  promise  to  be 
my  chaperone  ?  " 


150  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

"I  chaperone  3^011?"  said  Jennie,  amused  at  the 
thought,  adding  as  though  she  enjoyed  its  absurdity, 
"  I'll  do  it,"  and  so  it  was  arranged  that  they  should  go. 

Little  did  Aliena  imagine  what  would  be  transpiring 
in  that  devoted  city,  to  which  her  prayers  turned  daily 
upon  the  eventful  morning  which  was  about  to  dawn. 

Long  before  the  appointed  time  for  the  exercises  in 
the  chapel,  groups  could  be  seen  ^vending  their  way 
thither,  and  the  clanging  of  the  iron  gate  could  be  heard 
announcing  their  entrance  into  the  Campus. 

Jennie  being  inexperienced  in  elaborate  toilet,  and 
over-anxious  as  to  success  at  her  chrysalis  age,  was  slow 
in  making  her  appearance.  vShe  joined  Aliena  in  the 
parlor,  at  length,  however,  looking  slightly  iiushed  from 
anxiety  and  Burry  in  getting  her  hair  put  up  in  a  coil 
for  tlie  first  time,  but  very  pretty  and  fresh,  in  a  white 
muslin  with  pink  moss  buds  apparently  sprinkled  over 
it,  and  a  straw  hat  with  corresponding  moss  buds  clus- 
tered at  one  side.  As  they  left  the  hotel,  Mr.  Marsden, 
who  had  been  in  waiting,  joined  them.  And  falling  in 
with  the  stream  of  pa  )ple  still  moving  toward  the  Cam- 
pus, they  entered  the  crowded  chapel. 

It  had  not  occurred  to  Aliena  to  ask  who  was  to  be 
the  orator  of  the  day.  Now,  turning  to  Jennie,  she  in- 
quired who  was  to  be  the  speaker. 

''  The  Chancellor,"  Jennie  responded,  with  an  air  of 
reverence  which  Aliena  attributed  to  her  university 
l)reeding. 

After  the  preliminary  exercises,  of  which  music  finely 
rendered  constituted  the  principal  part,  the  orator  of 
the  day  arose.  He  was  a  pale,  intellectual  looking  man 
of  about  forty-five ;  his  hair,  already  tinged  with  gray, 
brushed  from  his  forehead,  showed  his  finel}^  shaped 
brow.  The  brilliancy  and  intensity  of  his  black  eyes 
seemed  almost  out  of  unison  Avith  his  pale,  calm  face. 

His  voice  was  at  first  apparently  weak,  and  his  man- 
ner somewhat  formal,  and  he  hesitated  at  times  for  a 
Vv^ord,  which  was  too  fitly  chosen  not  to  indicate  thor- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  151 

ough  preparation.  But  warming  with  the  subject  he 
seemed  to  change,  even  physically.  His  voice  had  no 
faltering  sound  now,  but  rang  out  as  clear  as  a  trumpet, 
or  sinking  in  low  distinct  tones  vibrated  with  profound- 
est  emotion. 

His  words  came  with  apparent  spontaneity,  and  with  a 
perfect  adaptation  for  clothing  the  grand  thoughts  he 
expressed — holding  his  audience  in  Avrapt  accord  Avith 
himself,  not  only  by  his  eloquence,  but  by  his  personal 
magnetism. 

As  he  finished  there  seemed  to  be  a  simultaneous 
(leep-draAvn  inspiration  throughout  the  audience,  and  a 
rustling  of  fans,  and  a  general  change  of  position — as 
though  awakening  from  the  spell  he  had  thrown  over 
tliem. 

Aliena  did  not  wonder  now  at  the  tone  and  manner 
with  which  Jennie  Foster  had  pronounced  the  words, 
''The  Chancellor."  A  manner  which  she  found  after- 
ward to  be  the  refxex  of  the  general  sentiment  of  the 
community,  founded  not  only  upon  his  intellectual 
greatness,  but  his  equal  goodness. 

The  day  after  Commencement,  Mr.  ^larsden  proposed 
to  Aliena  to  go  with  him  and  Jennie  to  the  University 
Library.  Ascending  the  winding  oak  stairway  in  the 
vestibule  of  the  building,  they  entered  the  beautiful 
room  used  for  this  purpose. 

xVt  intervals,  upon  either  side  of  the  great  room,  and 
projecting  at  equal  distances,  were  dividing  partitions  ; 
against  these,  back  to  back,  shelves  filled  with  books 
reached  to  the  ceiling ;  thus  subdividing  the  main  room 
en  two  sides  into  cosy,  well-lighted  compartments,  each 
])rovided  with  tables  and  chairs.  The  main  undivided 
hall  extended  the  whole  length  of  the  room.  Here  vrere 
hung  portraits  of  the  distinguished  men  who  had  been 
connected  with  the  University,  or  other  Georgians  of 
historic  note. 

Since  the  disbanding  of  the  students  for  a  military 
career  the   library  had   been    comparativel}^  deserted  : 


152  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

and  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  rare  pleasure  that  Aliena 
discovered  the  treasures  collected  in  this  quiet  room ; 
and  thought  of  the  resource  it  would  be  to  her  in  her 
loneliness.  Roaming  from  alcove  to  alcove,  she  saw 
with  delight  the  names  of  authors  whose  works  were 
scarcely  to  be  found  elsewhere.  Taking  from  one  of 
the  shelves  a  rare  old  book,  she  sank  into  a  chair,  so 
absorbed  that  Mr.  Marsden  and  Jennie  w^andered  on, 
entertaining  themselves  as  they  chose  until  ready  to 
return. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

"  Th'  adventarous  bands 
"With  shudd'ring  horror  pale,  and  eyes  aghast, 
Tiewed  first  their  lamentable  lot." 

The  days  dragged  wearily  on  in  the  besieged  city. 
The  insufficient  provisions  had  become  poorer  in  qual- 
ity, and  more  and  more*  scant.  The  soldiers  on  half 
rations  of  unpalatable  and  unwholesome  food,  doing 
double  duty,  under  a  fiery  sun,  were  dropping  exhausted 
in  the  stifling  trenches. 

Even  Major  Baron  had  tried  mule  steak  noAV.  Though 
lie  found  ways  still  of  ekeing  it  out,  and  means  of  keeping 
comparatively  comfortable. 

The  garrison,  though  worn  out,  and  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent dispirited,  yet  held  on  with  determined  pertinacity 
— hoping  against  hope.  All  thought  of  rescue  had  died 
out  in  the  minds  of  the  soldiers,  despite  the  constantly 
repeated  false  rumors  to  the  contrary.  These  now 
scarcely  stirred  a  heart  beat.  Riiies,  in  the  hands  of 
sharp-shooters,  and  cannon,  and  mortar,  still  plied  their 
warfare  ;  day  and  night,  and  night  and  day ;  over  and 
over  again,  in  wearing,  ceaseless  continuance. 

Horses  and  mules,  tottering  skeletons  from  w^ant  of 
food,  were  shot  to   end  their  misery.     These  skeleton 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  153 

forms,  thrown  into  the  Mississippi,  floated  to  the  ene- 
my's lines  below,  telling  the  tale  of  suffering  and  woe. 
One  never  to  be  forgotten  day,  when,  almost  a  century 
before,  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  had  looked  down,  smil- 
ing upon  a  little  band  of  rebels  signing  a  Declaration 
of  Independence,  a  sullen  silence  brooded  over  the 
doomed  city. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?  "  suppressed  voices  asked. 

"  They  say  the  city  has  been  surrendered,"  came  in 
more  suljdued  tones. 

"  It  is  not  so  !  It  cannot  be  !  "  half  famished  men 
and  women  said  aghast. 

And  even  women  longed  and  prayed  to  hear  the 
sound  of  guns  once  more,  as  a  joyful  thing. 

But  no  sound  came.  The  dismal,  brooding  silence 
continued.  A  little  group  of  horsemen  might  have 
been  seen  moving  silently  and  secretly  to  the  rear  of 
the  city.  Under  the  shade  of  a  tree  outside  of  Con- 
federate lines  another  group  awaited  them.  There  the 
terms  of  surrender  were  signed. 

To  the  credit  of  the  foe,  be  it  said,  no  J03^ful  demon- 
stration marked  their  oncoming.  Silently  they  took 
possession  of  the  doomed  place,  where  against  fearful 
odds  a  small  band,  suffering  privation  and  hunger,  had 
so  long  stood  heroicall}'  by  their  guns.  No  voice  found 
utterance  for  triumph  when  the  little  army  stacked 
their  guns,  and  the  officers  grimly  surrendered  their 
swords,  which  a  gallant  enemy  returned.  And  the 
prisoners,  having  taken  an  oath  not  to  serve  again  until 
exchanged,  sorrowfully  turned  their  backs  upon  the 
defenseless  women  and  children  and  upon  a  place  they 
had  so  long  and  so  hopelessly  defended.  Leaving 
buried  upon  the  hillsides  thousands  of  their  brave  com- 
rades in  arms  who  had  succumbed  to  sickness  or  fallen 
in  the  trenches.  The  women  who  had  uncomplain- 
ingly endured  the  hardships  of  the  siege,  now  came 
out  of  the   dank,   dark  caves   where   they  had   found 


154  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

refuge  from  the  firing,  and  fearfully  returned  to  their 
homes,  to  protect  them,  if  possible,  from  pillage. 

Major  Baron  having  endured  the  mortification  of 
surrender  under  which  he  was  chafing,  went  to  pay  a 
final  visit,  to  Castle  Hill.  Here  the  old  German  gar- 
deiier  and  his  wife  had  remained,  faithful  to  their  posts. 
Wandering  sadly  and  sorrowfully  through  conservatory 
and  grounds.  Major  Baron  went  once  more  to  take  a 
farewell  look  at  The  Castle.  Here  he  seated  himself 
for  the  last  time,  in  sweet  and  bitter  retrospection, 
upon  the  steps  of  the  portico,  under  the  twining  bank- 
sia  rose. 

The  mocking-birds,  if  any  were  left,  had  flown  away 
from  their  nest  in  the  magnolia  tree.  Few  birds  of  any 
kind  could  be  heard  now.  The  guns  had  driven  them 
away.  One  could  be  heard  singing  in  a  sequestered 
spot  down  by  the  lake.  And  a  dove  could  be  heard 
moaning  in  the  distance.  He  rose  at  length  to  walk 
through  the  grounds — he  thought  as  lie  Avalked  on  of 
the  weary  time  since  he  was  here  with  Aliena,  a  time 
so  long  in  events,  and  of  the  humiliation  he  would  feel 
in  meeting  her  after  the  surrender. 

He  startled  the  peacocks  from  their  cover,  under  the 
clump  of  azaleas  ;  they  half  flew  and  half  ran,  uttering 
their  discordant  cvj.  They  had  become  wild  and  strange 
from  neglect,  and  from  the  firing. 

At  sight  of  the  lake  the  thought  of  another  than 
Aliena  obtruded  upon  him.  He  remembered  his  stroll 
here,  the  row  on  the  lake,  the  caressing  intonation  of 
his  name,  and  the  sweet  wa}^  in  which  the  sound  had 
been  cut  short.  And  he  determined  to  see  Lilian,  and 
learn  her  plans  for  the  future. 

Thinking  no  time  better  than  the  present,  which  in 
its  bitterness  and  humiliation,  hung  so  heavily,  he  re- 
turned for  his  horse,  and  rode  down  the  graveled  road, 
under  the  tinkling  silver  poplar,  and  out  of  the  gate 
forever. 

Lilian  was  not  looking  as  dejected  as  Major  Baron 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  155 

had  anticipated,  considering  tlie  fact  of  the  day's  sur- 
render. She  was  not  clad  in  sack-cloth  and  ashes  ;  but 
was,  in  reality,  looking  quite  fresh  and  lovely.  He 
found  her  in  the  parlor  with  Captain  Berry,  who  was 
also  looking  more  cheerful  than  might  have  been 
expected.  He  had  just  learned  from  Lilian  the  com- 
forting intelligence  that  the  family  were  to  go  into  the 
Confederacy. 

Lilian  wore  a  pale,  peach-blossom  pink  organdie,  with 
tea  rosebuds  of  the  same  color  in  her  bosom.  The  guns 
had  not  shot  away  her  vanity,  nor  the  surrender  of  her 
native  city  abated  her  desire  for  admiration. 

Captain  Berry  left,  reluctantly,  having  an  engage- 
ment. But  Major  Baron  felt  no  inclination  to  take  the 
seat  vacated  by  Lilian's  side.  Being  physically  a  brave 
man,  and  having  undergone  danger,  and  some  privation, 
at  least,  incident  to  the  siege,  he  was  sufticiently  im- 
pressed by  the  portentous  events  of  the  da}'  not  to  be 
so  much  under  the  spell  of  Lilian's  beauty  as  to  forget 
these  facts.  Her  gala  attire  jarred  upon  his  sense  of 
fitness,  and  her  tone  of  levity  upon  his  feelings.  The 
more  so,  perhaps,  because  of  having  found  her  dispens- 
ing her  smiles  to  another. 

There  was  a  look  of  pre-occupation  about  his  face, 
and  a  tone  of  hardness  in  his  voice  that  Lilian  had  never 
seen  or  heard.  This  served  gradually  to  check  the  flow 
of  pretty  little  nothings,  and  even  the  airs  of  coquetry 
with  which  she  was  wont  to  arouse  him  to  a  sense  of  her 
charms.  To  these  he  was  usually  sufficientl}'  alive.  Li 
her  own  mind  they  were  not  to  be  overshadowed  even 
by  the  events  of  this  day. 

Falling  upon  another  expedient  to  arouse  Major 
Baron  from  the  slough  of  despond  in  which  he  seemed 
sunk,  Lilian  excused  herself  for  the  moment,  and  left 
the  room.  She  soon  returned,  bringing  upon  a  silver 
waiter  a  decanter  of  wine,  and  glasses. 

''  The  servants  have  all  gone  wild,  and  are  off.  There 
is  no  knowing  whether  they  will  ever  return,"  she  said 


156  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

explanatorily,  setting  down  tlie  waiter.  ''  Here  is  some 
old  Port  that  mamma  has  been  saving  in  case  any  of 
us  were  shot ;  but  there  is  no  use  to  save  it  now,  and 
the  Yankees  may  take  it.  So  we  might  as  well  enjoy 
it."  And  pouring  out  the  wine,  she  handed  him  a 
glass. 

With  all  his  ordinary  elegance  of  manner  Major 
Baron  delighted  in  playing  the  Grand  Mogul  where  he 
could.  He  relished  the  idea  of  a  heaven  of  indolent 
ease,  with  houris  in  fragrant  robes  in  attendance.  And 
he  permitted  Lilian  to  wait  upon  him  with  a  sort  of 
royal  condescension.  Receiving  the  wine  he  took  it  at 
a  draught. 

"  Let  me  fill  your  glass — it  will  do  you  good?"  said 
Lilian. 

'•  Thank  you,"  he  said,  as  it  was  replenished.  Lilian 
now  placing  a  tjte-a-tate  table  within  reach  of  Major 
B.iron,  with  the  wine  upon  it,  seated  herself  near  him. 
He  lolled  back  in  his  favorite  seat,  on  the  little  satin 
cushioned  sofa,  with  Lilian  by  his  side,  sipping  the  wine. 

She  had  no  farther  cause  to  complain  of  his  indiftex- 
ence  to  her  charms.  Though  apparently  unconscious 
herself  of  any  other  exciting  cause,  his  heightened  voice 
a. id  flushed  face  attested  the  potent  influence  of  the 
wine  which  he  continued  to  sip. 

Having  been  informed  by  Lilian  of  her  contemplated 
removal  into  Confederate  lines  at  once,  he  promised  to 
accompany  her.  Becoming  sensible  of  the  effect  of  the 
wine,  at  length  he  concluded,  to  leave. 

Mr.  Selwyn,  Lilian's  father,  was  a  merchant,  who  was 
so  absorbed  in  the  almighty  dollar  that  his  influence  in 
his  family  was  scarcely  felt;  like  many  others  of  the 
same  class,  he  thought  that  when  he  had  provided  for 
the  physical  wants  of  his  family,  his  duty  was  amply 
performed.  He  belonged  now  to  that  hungry  horde, 
always  developed  at  a  time  like  this,  who  consider  it 
their  privilege  to  prey  upon  the  necessities  of  a  people. 
Having  put  a  paid  substitute  in  the  Confederate  army^ 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  157 

he  gave  his  own  energies  to  the  safer  and  more  con- 
genial pursuit  of  getting  money.  Rashly  caught  inside 
the  lines  of  the  besieged  city,  he  had  been  compelled  to 
endure  some  of  the  hardships  and  perils  of  war. 

His  wife,  as  a  girl,  had  been  more  remarkable  for  her 
beauty  than  for  some  other  qualities.  Lilian,  as  her 
father  constantly  told  her,  being  the  counterpart  of  her 
mother  when  he  first  saw  her.  With  her  freshness 
Mrs.  Selwyn  had  lost  her  beauty,  and  was  now  an  in- 
elhcient,  dowd}',  complaining  woman.  They  had  lost 
three  children,  between  Lilian  and  the  two  younger 
remaining  ones,  of  five  and  three  years,  respectively. 

Lilian  had,  of  course,  been  the  more  petted  and  in- 
dulged on  this  account ;  absorbing  the  affection,  nut 
only  of  her  parents,  but  of  a  maiden  aunt,  who,  only  a 
few  years  before,  had  married  to  the  astonishment  and 
annoyance  of  Mrs.  Selwyn.  She  thinking  it  less  oner- 
ous, perhaps,  to  marry  a  Avidower  A\ith  eight  children 
than  to  retain  the  position  of  drudge  in  the  household 
of  an  inefiicient  sister. 

]\Lajor  Baron,  unaccustomed  to  3'ielding  his  own  will, 
keenly  alive  to  the  mortification  of  the  surrender,  with- 
out courage  for  endurance ;  did  not  allow  the  soothing 
and  cheering  influence  of  wine,  or  of  something  stronger, 
to  subside.  And,  but  for  Jthe  interference  of  friends,  he 
might,  through  his  rashness,  have  gotten  into  serious 
trouble  Avith  the  demoralized  men,  and  Federal  soldiers 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact  during  the  brief  interval 
of  his  stay  in  Vicksburg.  In  fact  it  must  be  confessed 
that  he  knew  little  of  what  transpired  during  tliat  time, 
or  on  his  route  to  Jackson. 

The  necessary  preparations  for  travel  were  made  by 
Auguste,  his  servant,  who  preferred  the  soft  berth  of  a 
valet  to  a  self-indulgent  man,  lavish  of  money,  with  the 
prospect  of  a  nomadic  life,  which  suited  his  taste,  rather 
than  freedom,  with  the  uncertainty  of  an  unprovided 
future.  He  therefore  voluntarilv  accompanied  his  mas- 
ter. 


158  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

"Lil,  that  Major  Baron  you  have  been  talking  so 
much  about,  has  rather  familiar  manners,  I  think,"  said 
Mr.  Selwyn  to  his  daughter,  en  route.  He  having  until 
now  had  no  acquaintance  really  with  that  gentleman, 
except  through  Lilian's  eulogies.  Adding, ''  I  don't  think 
you  ought  to  permit  him  to  be  so  free  and  easy  with  you. 
The  fact  is  I  believe  he  has  been  drinking  too  much." 

Captain  Berry's  jealousy  being  aroused,  he  scowled 
at  Major  Baron  in  such  a  way  that,  being  in  just  the 
state  of  mind  to  be  more  than  willing  to  take  up  any 
gauntlet.  Major  Baron  gave  him  to  understand,  in 
rather  incoherent  terms,  that  it  would  afford  him  satis- 
faction to  take  his  life's  blood,  proffering  that  gentleman 
the  opportunity  to  have  this  kind  office  performed  for 
him. 

Colonel  Harvey,  who  was  present,  going  into  Con- 
federate lines,  now  interfered,  upon  the  lady's  account 
rather  than  from  any  interest  in  the  parties  themselves. 
And  Colonel  Sturdyvant  resorted  at  length  to  the 
doubtful  expedient  of  inducing  Major  Baron  to  take 
another  drink,  which,  if  it  did  not  elevate  him  to  the 
standard  of  a  hero,  had  the  desired  effect  of  quieting 
him,  at  least.  In  this  condition,  he  was  kept  in  the 
back-ground  until  he  arrived  in  Jackson — Captain 
Berry  being  thus  left  in  quiet  possession  of  the  field. 

As  far  as  Lilian  was  concerned,  she  was  happily  of 
that  tranquil  turn  of  mind  that  prevented  her  aftiicting 
herself  in  regard  to  one  gallant,  while  comforted  by  the 
presence  and  flattering  attentions  of  another. 

By  this  happy  absorption  she  was  also  oblivious  to 
the  sufferings  of  the  dispirited,  dusty,  tired  soldiers; 
who,  on  foot,  under  the  burning  sun,  toiled  on  over  a 
parched  country,  made  a  desert  by  the  enemy,  into  the 
confederacy,  there  to  be  set  aimlessly  adrift. 

Auguste  took  charge  of  his  master  on  his  arrival  at 
Jackson,  and  got  him  to  a  hotel.  Here  it  was  to  be 
hoped  that  he  would  awake  to  clearer  ideas  of  propri- 
ety, as  well  as  of  other  things. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  150 

Late  ill  the  following  morning  lie  aroused  with  a 
throbbing  headache  ;  feeling  altogether  wretched  and 
out  of  sorts.  Auguste  appeared  soon  afterwards  ;  in 
fact,  he  had  looked  in  several  times  to  see  if  his  master 
was  awake. 

"Auguste,  hav  n't  I  been  making  a  confounded  fool 
of  myself?"  Major  Baron  asked. 

"  I  should  n't  wonder  if  you  has,  marster,"  Auguste 
replied. 

''  I  feel  like  it,  certainly.     Go  and  get  me  a  cock-tail." 

"  I  fetched  you  one  some  time  ago,  sir,  but  they  don't 
have  no  ice  in  the  Federacy,  and  I  thought  I  'd  best 
have  you  one  made  fresh.  I  '11  fetch  you  another  in  a 
minnit,"  said  Auguste,  disappearing.  He  did  not  men- 
tion that  he  had  taken  the  drink  himself  which  he  had 
first  brought,  But  his  master  w^as  accustomed  to  those 
little  liberties. 

Having  by  the  aid  of  the  cock-tail  internally,  and 
the  use  of  cold  water  externally,  gotten  himself  into  a 
condition  to  do  so.  Major  Baron,  who  had  not  been 
wholly  unconscious  of  what  had  transpired  en  route^  de- 
termined to  see  Lilian  and  make  the  proper  amends. 
He  did  not,  however,  as  seriously  fear  the  result  of  any 
misconduct  upon  his  part,  with  regard  to  her,  as  he 
would  have  done  with  a  more  nicely  sensitive  nature. 

Lilian  received  him  with  a  gracious  smile,  which  set 
him  at  ease  at  once,  and  coming  boldly  to  the  front  he 
said,  "  I  was  afraid  I  had  made  a  fool  of  myself  coming 
from  Vicksburg.  The  surrender  was  too  much  for 
human  fortitude  to  endure.  I  have  come  to  apologize, 
and  to  do  any  penance  you  see  fit  to  inflict  provided  it 
does  not  banish  me  from  your  favor  and  presence." 

"  Papa  thought  you  w^ere  a  little  free  in  your  man- 
ners and  Capt.  Berry  got  aggravated — " 

"  Capt.  Berry  may  go  to  the  Plutonian  regions  for  all 
I  care.  And  I  shall  tell  him  so  the  first  chance  I  get," 
said  Maj.  Baron,  interrupting  Lilian,  indignantly.  His 
blood  being  by  no  means  quite  cool  yet. 


160  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  Please  don't,"  said  Lilian  entreatingly,  alarmed  at 
what  she  had  done,  and  moving  nearer  to  him  she  put 
her  hand  on  his  arm,  and,  looking  up  beseecliingly  into 
his  face,  continued,  "  I  don't  know  what  possessed  me 
to  tell  you  that.  Do  please  promise  me  not  to  say  any- 
thing to  Capt.  Berry  about  it." 

"  Tliere  is  no  resisting  you.  I  will  do  anything  you 
ask,"  said  Maj.  Baron,  ardently  putting  his  arm  around 
Lilian  and  drawing  her  to  him.  And  the  compact  was 
sealed  in  a  way  not  likely  to  have  been  oil  upon  the 
waters  to  Capt.  Berry  if  he  had  been  present. 

Mr.  Selwyn,  who  soon  entered  the  room,  was  at  first 
distant  and  formal  in  his  manner  toward  Maj.  Baron, 
.who,  the  more  assiduous  in  his  efforts  to  please  from 
that  fact,  soon  overcame  all  coolness  by  his  tact. 

Before  he  left  it  was  with  the  understanding  that  he 
was  to  go  on  with  them  as  far  as  iNIontgomery,  where 
the  Selwyns  were  to  remain,  while  he  was  to  continue 
his  journey  to  Georgia,  "  upon  a  matter  of  business," 
as  he  told  Lilian. 

'^  Good  morning,  Colonel,  your  face  is  as  long  as  the 
moral  law,"  said  Maj.  Baron  to  Col.  Harvey,  whom  he 
encountered  walking  restlessly  to  and  fro  upon  the  gal- 
lery of  the  hotel  when  he  returned. 

"  If  it  is  no  longer  than  the  moral  law  of  some  per- 
sons, I  know  it  is  not  an  index  to  my  feeling,"  said 
Colonel  Harvey,  coldly,  stroking  his  beard  and  moving 
restlessly  on  in  his  promenade. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  161 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

"  The  land  which  once  Avas  mine 
And  still  is  hallowed  by  thy  dust's  return.'* 

Colonel  Harvey,  cast  adrift  as  he  was  by  the  contin- 
gencies of  war,  experienced  a  feeling  of  isolation,  such 
as  he  had  not  felt  since,  self-banished,  he  had  six  years 
before  sought  a  home  amongst  strangers.  He  had  not 
heretofore  been  able  to  come  to  the  determination  to 
revisit  scenes  so  fraught  with  pain  to  him,  but  now,  in 
his  humiliation  at  the  surrender,  his  heart  turned  toward 
this  desolate  Mecca,  of  home.  Grave,  self-forgetful  and 
self-reliant  as  he  had  seemingly  become  in  these  years 
of  sad  experience,  he  had  not  the  less  been  liable  to 
that  weakness  which  has  for  the  time  shorn  even  Sam- 
son of  his  strength. 

From  boyhood  he  had  loved  a  beautiful  cousin, 
whose  pink  and  white  complexion,  spoiled-child  manner, 
and  child-like  want  of  regard  at  times  even  for  the  rules 
of  syntax,  had  made  her  fascinating.  His  love  was  re- 
ciprocated, but  her  parents  discerning  the  supposed 
advantage  of  her  alliance  with  another  had  favored  this 
suit.  She  was  easily  persuaded  to  the  change.  Her 
childish  volatility,  with  her  other  child-like  qualities  hav- 
ing made  the  transition  seemingly  easily.  Filled  with 
the  glamor  of  the  wedding,  its  orange  blossoms  and  its 
costly  gifts,  rather  than  with  the  solemn  realities  of  a 
plighted  trotli,  she  had  kept  the  knowledge  of  her 
approaching  marriage  a  secret  from  her  cousin.  She 
had  continued  to  receive  his  visits  and  caresses  when 
lier  footsteps  were  almost  upon  the  altar,  upon  which 
she  was  to  lay,  it  was  to  be  supposed,  the  offering  of  a 
heart  wholly  her  husband's. 

"  George,  what  are  you  saying  good-bye  for ;  as  if  I 
were  going  to  die  instead  of  to  be  married?    I  shall  be  ■ 
hMiely  in    that   big   house.     I  hope    to    see  you   often 
then.     You  must  not  be  angry  with  me,  but  love  me  a 


162  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

little  any  way,  and  come  to  see  me  sometimes,"  said 
Lutie,  as  they  were  parting  after  she  had  made  this 
crushing  communication  to  him. 

"  Love  you  a  little  ?  I  can  do  nothing  else  but  love 
you,  and  that  is  why  I  say  good-bye,"  George  Harvey 
gasped  in  reply. 

'<•  You  know  it  is  not  my  fault.  You  are  so  poor, 
George,  and  mamma  and  papa  say  we  would  starve  to 
death  while  you  were  waiting  for  clients." 

''  I  could  never  starve  while  I  had  your  love." 

'^  Poor  George  I "  she  said  tenderly,  moving  nearer  to 
him,  ''  why  did  n't  you  make  a  heap  of  money  and  then 
we  could  have  married." 

''  Don't  talk  to  me  that  way,  Lutie.  You  drive  me 
mad.  I  can  work  for  you,  starve  for  you.  Only  wait, 
and  we  can  marr}^  yet,  if  you  will." 

"'  No,  it  is  all  fixed  now.  I  can't  marry  you.  But 
you  ca,n  come  to  see  me  sometimes.  And  it  cannot  be 
wrong  for  us  to  love  each  other  a  little,  when  we  are 
cousins." 

"  It  will  be  a  horrible  sin  for  you  to  marry  a  man 
without  loving  Am." 

"  I  do  love  him  some.  He  is  very  good  to  me,  and 
gives  me  such  beautiful  things.  But  somehow  I  don't 
like  him  to  pet  me,"  and  she  looked  regretfully  into 
her  cousin's  face. 

'-'  Will  you  persist  in  driving  me  mad  ?  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  George,  don't  talk  that  way  to  me,  or  I  shall  think 
you  hate  me,"  she  said,  nestling  closer  to  him,  and 
he  clasped  her  in  his  arms,  kissing  her  passionately,  and 
tore  himself  away  ;  brushing  by  her  future  husband  as 
he  was  entering  the  house. 

George  Harvey  did  not  go  to  the  wedding,  but  he  did 
meet  his  pretty  cousin  accidentally  a  short  time  after- 
wards, fresh  and  beautiful  in  her  bridal  array,  leaning  up- 
on her  husband's  arm.  He  would  have  avoided  her,  but 
leaving  her  husband,  she  moved  impulsivel}^  and  de- 
lightedl}^  forward  proffering  her  hand. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  163 

"  Why,  howd  'y  do  George,  I  am  so  gliid  to  meet  you. 
It  has  been  such  a  long  time  since  I  saw  you,"  and 
looking  at  her  husband,  who  had  proffered  his  hand 
also,  she  said  with  more  of  awe  than  of  love  in  her 
manner.  "  Don't  3'ou  think  cousin  George  might  come 
to  see  us  sometimes  ?  when  we  have  always  been  such 
good  friends  ?  " 

'^  Certainly,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  your  cousin  visit 
us,"  her  husband  replied. 

George  looked  at  her  in  her  pretty  bridal  array,  and 
his  heart  longed  for  her,  and  iier  sweet  words.  But  to 
his  honor  be  it  spoken,  he  loved  her  too  well  to  trust  him- 
self, and  never  went. 

Thinking  drearily  of  her  that  night  as  he  sat  gazing 
into  the  firelight  in  his  solitary  room,  the  warmth  of 
her  greeting  having  stirred  within  him  all  that  he  had 
striven  to  forget,  and  with  it  remembering  the  magna- 
nimity of  her  husl)and,  as  he  imagined,  not  dpubting 
but  that  she  had  confided  her  former  love  and  troth, 
he  determined  to  write  a  line — ^_iust  a  line — to  put 
liimself  right  in  the  coarse  he  thought  proper  to  pursue. 
To  prevent  her  believing  as  she  had  said  she  would, 
that  he  hated  her. 

He  moved  to  the  table.  Here  he  sat  dipping  his  pen 
into  the  ink,  and  splashing  it  impatiently  from  its  point, 
bat  without  commencing.  He  was  puzzled  how  to  be- 
gin. It  had  been  easy  enough  in  other  days.  All  the 
sweet  endearing  terms  of  those  times  came  back  to 
memory,  but  these  he  could  not  use  in  addressing  the 
wife  of  another. 

He  commenced  at  last,  "  Mrs."  He  tore  the  paper 
to  pieces  and  cast  it  into  the  fire.  He  began  now  with- 
out address.  '*  Since  I  met  you  this  morning  my  heart" 
— he  struck  out  heart  and  put  "  mind  has  been  torn 
with  conflicting  emotions."  Reading  this  he  crossed 
"torn"  and  substituted  "troubled." 

Laying  down  his  pen  hopelessly  he  gazed  again  into 
the  fire,   giving   himself  up  remorselessly   to   thought. 


164  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

His  heart  was  truly  "  torn  with  conflicting  emotions." 
The  same  sense  of  right  that  had  restrained  him  from 
going  to  see  her,  now  determined  him  not  to  WTite. 
Then  the  warmth  with  which  she  had  met  him — the  re- 
membrance of  his  last  visit  to  her,  when  she  had  nestled 
to  his  side  confessing  her  unchanged  love,  the  sweet 
image  of  her  loving  face  then  upturned  to  his — the  pas- 
sionate kisses,  all  left  him  in  a  mad  conflict  with  love 
and  duty. 

Hating  her  husband  at  one  moment,  and  pitying  him 
with  his  better  nature  the  next,  thus  wrought  upon,  he 
recklessly  determined  to  write  as  he  felt.  He  might, 
as  he  thought,  at  least  express  himself,  and  in  imagina- 
tion have  the  satisfaction  of  her  knowing  his  feelings. 
He  had  no  difficulty  now. 

Wildly  dashing  off  his  thoughts,  he  wrote  : 

'''  My  ever  loved  Lutie  : — 

The  'sight  of  3'ou  this  morning  which  I  had  prayed 
God  to  Avithhold  from  me  forever,  as  you  leaned  upon 
your  husband's  arm,  drove  me  almost  wild.  When, 
leaving  him,  5'ou  came  forward  with  that  sweet,  childlike 
impulsiveness,  always  so  irresistible  in  you,  and  put  that 
precious  little  hand  in  mine,  which  I  had  never  thought 
to  clasp  again,  I  felt  madly  like  taking  you  in  my 
arms,  as  in  other  days,  and  tearing  30U  awa}^  from  duty, 
if  such  it  can  be  called,  when  you  belong  to  me  by  the 
divine  right  of  love,  and  carrying  you  off  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  so  that  you  might  be  mine.  I  cannot  en- 
dure it.  It  maddens  me  to  think  of  you  as  the  wife  of 
another,  when  you  have  told  me  that  I  have  your  love. 
Don't  hate  me  for  this  or  for  anything  else.  If  I  do  not 
come  to  see  you  it  is  because  I  dare  not.  If  I  should 
see  you  I  cannot  say  what  wild  thing  I  might  do.  For 
that  reason  I  stay  away.  Will  jow  not  believe  that  it 
is  because  I  love  you  too  well  that  I  cannot  come.  If 
I  listened  to  my  own  mad  heart  I  should  be  with  you 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  165 

now.     Oiily  write  me  one  line,  one  little  precious  line 
to  tell  me  that  you  do  not  hate  me. 

Yours  ever,  George." 

Having  wrought  himself  to  desperation  in  thus  reck- 
lessly giving  vent  to  his  feelings,  in  the  mad  impulse  of 
the  moment  he  folded,  directed,  and  sent  this  wild 
effusion. 

In  answer  he  received  this  reply  : 

"Dear  George: — 

I  got  your  note.  I  don't  know  what  makes  you 
talk  so  to  me.  I  cried  myself  to  sleep  last  night  when 
I  got  it,  and  I  kept  waking,  sobbing  in  my  sleep.  He 
wanted  to  know  what  was  the  matter,  but  I  couldn't 
tell  him  for  fear  he  would  be  mad  with  me.  I  did  n't 
tell  him  before  and  now  somehow  I  can't.  But  I  don't 
know  what  makes  you  talk  so,  and  why  you  won't 
come  to  see  me,  and  be  good  friends  like  we  used  to 
be.  It  is  so  lonesome  and  d:ill  in  this  great  big  house 
Avithout  mamma  and  papa,  an  I  you  are  mad  with  me,  and 
nobody  loves  me  like  they  used  to.  His  sisters  come 
sometimes  and  bring  their  children.  I  would  rather 
see  the  children  than  them,  they  seem  so  elegant  and 
proper.  At  first  he  was  always  wanting  to  pet  me,  but 
I  don't  like  him  to  do  it,  and  he  don't  seem  to  love  me 
like  he  used  to,  and  I  try  to  be  good  for  him  too.  Now 
sometimes  he  looks  so  grave  at  me  that  it  scares  me, 
and  he  seems  so  old,  though  he  is  only  two  years  older 
than  you.  I  feel  like  I  was  getting  old  myself,  though 
I  will  not  be  eighteen  until  next  month.  What  a 
charming  time  we  had  my  last  birthday  sailing  on  the 
bay,  and  the  first  thing  I  saw^  when  I  woke  up  in  the 
morning  was  the  beautiful  flowers  you  sent  me,  and 
the  sweet  little  note.  Oh !  but  I  ought  not  to  say  that 
now,  I  suppose,  but  I  'm  so  lonesome.  Sometimes  he 
bows  to  me  like  I  was  company,  and  says  good- 
morning  and  goes  off,  and  stays  most  all  day,  and  I  don't 


166  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

know  what  to  do  with  m^^self.  But  when  he  comes 
back,  he  always  brings  me  something  pretty.  He  used 
to  bring  me  books  at  first,  I  am  sorry,  but  I  don't  like 
books.  And  I  can't  feel  glad  to  see  him  when  he  looks 
so  solemn.  If  I  ask  him  if  he  is  mad  w^ith  me  he  says 
*'No,  my  darling,  what  have  I  to  be  angry  about?  "  and 
I  don't  know,  but  I  feel  like  I  have  been  doing  some- 
thing wrong.  I  think  so  often  of  the  merry  times  we 
used  to  have.  It  seems  to  me  we  never  had  any 
trouble  finding  something  pleasant  to  talk  about.  And 
what  nice  long  walks  we  used  to  take,  and  how  SAveet 
the  air  was  from  the  sea.  I  ride  there  sometimes,  but 
it  don't  seem  the  same.  I  can't  go  sailing  now,  I  don't 
know  w^hy  but  I  don't  feel  like  it.  Don't  think  he  is 
not  good  to  me.  But  he  reads  such  awful  hard  books 
about  'physics'  and  '  metapln'sics  '  and  'concepts'  and 
'  entities,'  I  believe  he  calls  it.  And  he  used  to  look 
so  grave  at  me  when  he  found  I  was  asleep  while  he  was 
reading  out  loud.  But  he  don't  read  to  me  any  more 
now,  I  suppose  it  is  because  I  am  stupid.  He  drew 
what  he  called  a  diagram  to  show  me  the  difference  be- 
tween '  deduction'  and  '  induction,'  to  impress  it  on  my 
mind,  but  somehow  I  always  forgot.  And  when  he 
asked  if  that  was  induction  or  deduction,  the  *in'  ar- 
row was  sure  to  pop  into  my  head  instead  of  the  '  de' 
arrow.  That  reminds  me  of  when  you  used  to  try  to 
teach  me  to  shoot  with  a  bow  and  arrow,  you  told  me 
that  I  would  make  a  better  cupid  than  a  Dinah, 
(Diana,)  for  the  cupid's  bow  of  my  mouth  shot  straight 
to  your  heart.  Though  I  am  sure  I  would  not  have 
hurt  you  for  anything  in  the  world.  You  used  to  fix 
my  hand,  and  show  me  how  to  hold  my  bow,  and  how 
to^  shoot.  And  one  day  when  I  hit  right  in  the  center 
of  the  mark — Oh !  me  I  I  reckon  I  ought  not  to  think 
about  that  now.  But  you  don't  mind  hurting  my  feel- 
ings, or  you  would  n't  write  me  such  a  letter,  and  say 
you  won't  come  and  see  me.  There,  I  hear  him  coming 
upstairs,  and   I   must  stop.     So  good-bye  until   I    see 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  167 

you,  which  I  hope  will  be  soon,  my  dear,  naughty  old 
George.  Lutie." 

Of  course  he  could  not  but  answer  this  letter.  He 
replied  :  "  I  feel  more  than  ever  assured  that  my  only 
hope  is  in  absence.  I  must  fly.  I  am  going  away.  If 
the  soft  sea-air  gently  touches  your  pink  cheek,  believe 
it  an  eternal  farewell.  I  must  get  away  somewhere — 
anywhere — to  the  ends  of  the  earth;  away  from  this 
misery.  I  saw  you  only  a  few  evenings  since  from  the 
far  corner  of  the  theater.  I  could  not  endure  it.  I 
rushed  blindly  out,  unconscious  of  everything  but  of 
the  bottomless  abyss  that  separates  us — as  profound 
and  as  horrible  as  that  between  Dives  and  Lazarus.  If 
I  niAst  be  as  wretched  as  the  one,  God  grant  that  you 
may  not  be  less  happy  than  the  other.  Possibly  ab- 
sence, time  and  work  may  banish  the  memory  of  you 
and  of  my  once  hoped  for  happiness." 

To  this  she  replied  that  he  was  still  cruel ;  he  need 
not  go  ;  or  if  he  would  that  he  might  have  come  to  say 
good-bye.  That  even  7ie  could  not  have  minded  my 
giving  one  little  farewell  kiss  to  so  dear  a  cousin  as 
you. 

In  reply  to  this  he  wrote  that  he  thanked  God  that 
he  was  too  far  away  Avhen  this  letter  reached  him  to  be 
tempted  to  go  back  upon  his  determination  never  to  see 
her  again ;  feeling  that  he  might  not  have  been  able  to 
tear  himself  away.  That  he  would  give  his  life  if, 
rightfully,  he  might  have  had  the  "  one  little  good-bye 
kiss."  Asking  her  not  to  write  again,  to  keep  open  a 
wound  the  pain  of  which  he  felt  he  had  not  the  forti- 
tude to  endure. 

Not  a  year  after  her  husband  laid  her  in  the  tomb,  a 
wretched,  contrite  man,  in  that  he  knew  her  married 
life  had  been  a  joyless  one.  Looking  over,  afterward, 
everything  connected  with  her  preparatory  to  putting 
them  forever  from  view,  he  found,  carefully  tied  to- 
gether, not  only  these   letters  received,  but  copies  of 


168  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

those  written  in  reply.  Reading  the  topmost  letter  he 
could  but  go  on.  And  what  a  picture  was  unfolded  to 
his  view  ? 

Sleepless  and  hopeless,  almost  maddened  by  this  dis- 
covery, when  sorrow  had  done  its  worst  and  time  had 
assuaged  the  pain,  and  he  had  become  comparatively 
calm,  he  took  the  letters  his  wife  had  received,  enclosed 
them  with  these  lines  and  sent  them  : 

"Mk.  George  Harvey, 

Sir :  Enclosed  you  will  find  your  letters  to  my  wife. 
I  might  have  been  a  worse  man  under  the  same  tempta- 
tion. You  know  that  I  was  ignorant  or  I  should  not 
have  defrauded  you  of  the  right  to  her  love.  She  is 
gone  to  lier  great  account.  A  merciful  God  will  ^lot 
judge  her  harshly.  Hampton  Leigh.'' 

And  such  had  been  Dr.  Leisfh's  wife. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

"  0  Fleeting  joys 
Of  Paradise,  dear  bought  with  lasting  woes." 

The  cloistered  buildings  of  the  University,  hid  away 
under  the  grand  old  forest  growth  of  oaks  and  elms,  had 
had  a  charm  for  Aliena  from  the  time  when  she  had 
first  caught  sight  of  fliem  from  her  window  at  the  hotel, 
and  heard  the  old  chapel  bell  toll  the  hour  of  her  arrival. 

This  feeling  had  grown  upon  her,  as  in  the  dimly 
lighted  chapel  she  had  found  strength  and  solace  in 
prayer.  Here  also,  her  troubled  heart  had  found  utter- 
ance in  the  plaintive  music  as  fluttering  and  beating 
against  the  obstructing  arches  it  seemed  to  soar  on 
struggling  wings  for  that  higher,  nobler  life  of  perfect 
faith,  in  whose  beatitude  no  pain  is  mingled. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  169 

In  the  library  she  had  found  oblivion  at  times,  in 
poring  over  books  whose  eloquence  stirred  the  heart,  or 
whose  rhythmic  lines  lulled  with  more  soothing  power 
than  that  wonderful  weed,  which,  bringing  to  the  mind 
visions  of  ecstatic  bliss,  has  not  the  power  to  prevent 
its  sinking  back  into  no  less  fathomless  depths  of  black 
despair. 

In  the  quiet  and  seclusion  of  the  library  she  had  held 
converse  with  the  real  princes  of  the  earth.  Princes 
who  still  hold  sway  when  other  monarchs  have  sunk 
into  oblivion,  or  been  buried  in  the  dim  records  of  a 
dead  past.  Princes  who  did  not  scorn  to  come,  obedient 
to  her  call,  as  the  slave  to  the  ring,  unfolding  treasures 
richer  than  ever  magic  power  disclosed. 

In  these  deserted  cloistered  rooms  Mrs.  Graeme  and 
Aliena  now  sought  a  refuge.  Soon  the  marvelous 
hieroglyphs,  representing  nothing  "  in  heaven  above,  or 
in  the  earth  beneath,  or  in  the  water  under  the  earth," 
which  college  students  delight  in  inscribing,  disappeared 
from  the  walls.  Floors  disfigured  by  rough  usage  were 
covered.  The  deep  window  frames  in  the  massive  walls, 
grotesquely  carved  by  the  chiseling  tools  of  would-be 
Phidias,  Praxitiles,  or  Michael  Angelos,  were  draped  in 
damask — part  of  the  furnishing  of  Phi  Capa  or  Demos- 
thenian  halls,  dismantled  for  Confederate  purposes. 

Halls  where  incipient  Ciceroes,  or  Caesars,  had  "  flouted 
their  banners  upon  the  outer  Avails  ;  "  and  frothed,  and 
fumed,  lashing  themselves  to  mimic  furies  in  their 
cramped  arenas;  preparatory  to  those  grander  ones, 
where,  in  imagination,  they  swayed  senates  and  con- 
quered worlds. 

These  arrangements  having  been  completed  under 
Aliena's  supervision,  Mrs.  Graeme  was  ushered  into 
what  was  to  be  their  home  for  an  indefinite  time.  As 
she  entered  the  little  parlor  she  was  deeply  moved,  as 
facing  her  she  saw  her  husband's  portrait"  which  had 
hung  in  the  library  at  home.  Beneath  it,  upon  a 
bracket,  stood  an  antique  vase  filled  with  lilies   and 


170  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

trailing  vines.  Here  and  there  little  articles  of  vertu 
brought  with  them  gave  an  air  of  taste  and  refinement, 
even  under  circumstances  so  unpropitious. 

In  spite  of  Aliena's  effort  at  cheerfulness  in  taking 
possession  of  their  new  home,  as  twilight  came  on,  an 
undefined  feeling  of  gloom — of  heart-longing  for  loved 
voices,  forms,  and  surroundings,  came  over  her,  which 
she  found  it  impossible  to  throw  off.  Gliding  quietly 
from  the  room,  where  she  had  l^een  seated  witli  her 
mother,  she  moved  through  the  hall  to  the  wide,  deep- 
arched,  old-fashioned  doorway  leading  into  the  grounds. 
Here,  seated  upon  the  steps,  her  hands  lying  listlessly  in 
her  lap,  she  leaned  wearily  back  as  though  partaking- 
bodily  of  the  heart-weariness  that  oppressed  her. 

Light,  like  the  hope  in  her  heart,  faded,  and  the 
shadows  of  the  great  trees  grew  black  about  her,  like 
those  upon  her  heart.  Memory  and  imagination  held 
their  sway. 

Aliena  rarely  resigned  herself  to  thought,  and  she 
struggled  against  it  now ;  but  she  felt  powerless  to 
combat  it  this  evening.  She  thought  remorsefully  of 
Major  Baron,  as  she  had  so  often  clone  since  the  surren- 
der of  Vicksburg.  Many  weary  days  had  passed  since 
then,  and  yet  she  could  hear  nothing  from  him.  The 
clanging  of  the  far  off  iron  gate  suggested  prison  bolts 
and  bars.  She  wondered,  if  still  living,  if  he  were  lan- 
guishing in  prison  ?  or  if  he  could  have  forgotten  her  ? 

The  sound  of  footsteps  in  the  distance  made  her 
think  with  a  sort  of  guilty,  helpless  pang  that,  while 
others  might  be  reunited  to  those  they  loved,  she  seemed 
forever  separated  by  irrevocable  fate. 

The  steps  drew  nearer.  She  discerned  the  gray 
uniform  of  a  soldier  in  the  dim  light.  She  started,  to 
her  feet  with  a  great  heart-throb,  gasping  out  ''  Major 
Baron  !  "     And  his  strong  arms  enfolded  her. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  171 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

"  Then  plainly  know  my  heart's  dear  love  is  set ; — 
And  all  coml)iued  save  what  thou  must  combine 
By  holy  marriage — " 

Shakspeare. 

From  day  to  day  Major  Baron  could  be  seen  wending 
his  \yay  through  the  Campus  to  where,  with  Aliena,  as 
Othello  with  Desdemona,  he  found  never  ending  themes 
of  conversation, 

"  in  battles,  sieges,  fortunes ; — 
Of  moving  accidents  by  flood  and  field  ; 
Of  hair-breadth  'scapes  i'  the  imminent  deadly  breach ; 
Of  being  taken  by  the  insolent  foe." 

With  which,  as  with  the  Moor,  love,  revivified  by  Ali- 
ena's  presence,  mingled  in  all  his  talk.  Soon  regardless 
of  everything  else,  uncertain  as  to  his  stay,  which  might 
at  any  time  be  cut  short  by  his  exchange,  Major  Baron 
urged  a  speedy  marriage.  To  this  Aliena  would  not 
consent.  Appealing  to  Mrs.  Graeme,  she,  in  view  of 
lier  own  precarious  health  and  the  unprotected  condi- 
tion in  which  her  death  would  leave  Aliena,  not  only 
consented,  but  urged  these  reasons  upon  Aliena,  who 
finally  consented  that  a  day  should  be  fixed  for  their 
marriage  before  IMajor  Bare  n's  return  to  tlie  army. 

That  evening  as  he  was  about  to  leave,  j\Iajor  Baron 
said  to  Aliena,  ''I  have  a  request  to  make  of  you.  I 
hope  you  will  grant  it.  It  does  not  seem  suited  to 
our  happiness  that  you  should  wear  mourning.  Will 
you  promise  to  let  me  see  you  in  Avhite  to-morrow  even- 
ing when  I  come  again?  I  can  fancy  you  then  my 
bride."  Aliena's  eyes  sank  as  she  caught  the  ardent 
look  and  heard  the  tone  with  which  he  dwelt  upon  the 
last  words,  and  she  replied  with  profound  sadness. 

"  It  is  hard  for  me  to  put  aside  my  mourning.  I  can 
scarcely  realize  that  in  a  few  short  days  my  father  will 
liave  been  dead  two  years — two  Aveary  years.     But  if 


17^  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

you  wish  it,  I  will  clo  it.  To-morrow,  too,  will  be  my 
birthday,*''  she  added  with  a  sigh.  "  I  shall  be  nineteen 
then." 

"  Mauma,  what  became  of  that  white  dress,  the  India 
Swiss  I  had  at  home  ?  "  said  Aliena  the  following  morn- 
ing, remembering  her  promise  to  Major  Baron. 

"  I  fetched  it  along,  hone}^  Yon  never  wore  it  but 
once,  that  da}^  that  marster  had  all  them  big  officers  to 
dinner  to  meet  President  Davis.  There  was  just  thir- 
teen at  the  table  that  day,  and  marster  was  the  last  to 
set  down.  I  remember  that  particuler,  for  I  asked 
Washington  about  it,  and  sure  enough  marster  was  took 
before  the  year  was  out.  Not  that  I  believe  in  them 
sort  of  things  neither,  honey,  but  the  Lord  has  curus 
ways  of  makin  his  will  known."  Aliena  sighed  at  this 
reminiscence  revived  by  her  mention  of  the  dress,  feel- 
ing the  more  loth  to  put  it  on.     Mauma  continued. 

"  I  brought  it,  honey,  though  it  'peared  like  to  me 
you  want  never  goin  to  wear  nothin  but  black  no  more. 
But  I  heard  mistiss  say  that  the  lace  on  it  was  worth 
its  weight  in  dimuns.  You  know  mistiss  never  did  'pear 
like  she  keerd  for  jewelry  and  sech  likes,  but  she  always 
had  a  hankerin  for  fine  lace.  I  fetched  that  satin 
along  too,  honey,  what  marster  bought  for  mistiss  when 
we  was  in  the  old  country.  You  know  mistiss  was  too 
sick  to  wear  it,  and  it  ain't  never  had  scissors  put  to  it. 
That  'pears  like  a  mighty  nice  young  gentleman  that 's 
comin  round  here  so  much,  honey.  And  I  didn't  know 
but  what  you  might  want  it  for — " 

"  Never  mind  about  the  satin,"  said  Aliena  quickly, 
"but  I  am  going  to  wear  that  swiss  this  evening. 
Please  have  it  ready  for  me,  Mauma." 

"I  'm  powerful  glad  to  hear  it,  hone}^  though  it  'pears 
like  sometimes  that  the  Lord  don't  intention  for  folks  to 
take  off  mournin.  There  's  Mrs.  Horton,  I  heerd  her 
tell  mistiss  that  she  had  been  wearin  black  for  nigh  on 
to  ten  years,  and  that  she  had  quit  tryin  to  git  it  off, 
for  as  sure  as  she  done  it  the  Lord  sent  some  affliction 


THE  FEET  OF  OLA  T.  173 

upon  lier,  and  she  had  to  put  it  right  on  again.  And 
ever  sence  she  come  to  that  delusion  there  hadn't  been 
a  death  in  the  family." 

Aliena  showing  no  disposition  to  continue  this  de- 
pressing conversation,  Mauma  went  off  in  search  of  the 
dress.  Taking  it  from  one  of  the  large  trunks,  she 
opened  the  blue  paper  in  which  she  had  carefully 
pinned  it,  to  prevent  its  yelloAving,  and  shaking  out  the 
creamy  folds  a  faint  odor  of  violets  tilled  tlie  room.  A 
fragrance  which  became  more  distinct,  as  smoothing  its 
transparent  folds  and  cob-Aveb  lace  she  passed  a  warm 
iron  over  it. 

When  Aliena  returned  from  the  chapel  service  that 
evening  and  entered  her  room,  she  shivered  strangely 
as  her  eyes  fell  upon  the  fleecy  white  dress  upon  the 
bed.  And  her  courage  almost  forsook  her  at  thought 
of  putting  it  on.  Full  of  melancholy  thought  she  pro- 
ceeded, however,  to  do  as  she  had  promised. 

Aliena  could  not  but  feel  a  sense  of  satisfaction  as, 
completing  her  toilet,  she  survej'ed  herself  in  the  mir- 
ror. Creamy  tea  roses  nestled  in  her  bosom  and  at  her 
waist,  and  mingled  with  the  curls  which  fell  from  the 
masses  of  golden  brown  hair.  The  lace  of  rare  and  deli- 
cate design  lay  in  soft  folds  about  her  gracefully  poised 
Avhite  throat,  about  which  as  about  her  face  tiny  rings  of 
shining  hair  crept  out. 

The  soft  trailing  of  Aliena's  dress  as  she  passed 
through  the  dimly  lighted  old  hall,  with  the  delicate 
fragrance  that  seemed  always  to  environ  her,  announced 
her  coming  to  Major  Baron  as  he  awaited  her  in  the 
parlor. 

She  halted  in  the  doorway  as  she  caught  the  look  of 
impassioned  admiration  with  which  he  greeted  her  ap- 
pearance, the  delicate  color  suffusing  her  face. 

He  rose  and  came  forward  to  meet  her,  saying  as  he 
surveyed  her,  "  Still  my  queen."  And  taking  her  pink- 
tipped  fingers  in  his,  he  led  her,  as  he  might  have  done  a 
queen,  to  a  seat  under  her  father's  portrait.     Here,  seat- 


174  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

ing  himself  beside  her,  his  manly  person  set  off  to  advan- 
tage in  his  uniform,  his  glowing  face  lit  up  with  admi- 
ration and  love,  the  trailing  vines  and  flowers  of  the 
antique  vase  crowning  them  from  above  ;  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  have  found  a  more  charming  picture. 

Taking  a  jewel  case  from  his  breast-pocket,  Major 
Baron  unclasped  and  opened  it.  It  seemed  to  leap  into 
flame  as  the  light  fell  upon  a  bracelet  of  curious,  an- 
tique design.  An  emerald  serpent,  with  its  glittering 
diamond  eyes  that  lay  coiled  upon  the  white  satin 
cushion. 

"  Let  this,  a  bridal  present  from  my  father  to  my 
mother,  who  died  before  I  could  remember,  be  the  pledge 
of  our  betrothal,"  said  Major  Baron,  raising  Aliena's 
perfectly  molded  arm  and  clasping  it  there. 

Aliena  shivered  strangely  as  he  did  so.  It  might 
have  been  at  the  touch,  or  it  may  have  been  at  sight  of 
the  perfectly  represented  glittering  serpent  upon  her 
arm — or  some  more  mysterious  influence  even  may  have 
moved  her. 

"You  wear  it  willingly,  I  hope?"  said  Major  Baron, 
looking  curiously  into  her  face  as  he  perceived  the 
tremor. 

"  We  are  pledged,"  Aliena  said  in  a  strange,  unnatural 
voice,  turning  deathly  white. 

"  Will  you  wear  it  always  until  you  give  me  the  right 
to  claim  you  as  my  own?  "  he  continued,  chilled,  how- 
ever, by  her  tone. 

"  I  will  wear  it  always,"  she  replied,  in  the  same  un- 
natural voice. 

Major  Baron  taking  a  singular  looking  key  from  his 
chatelaine,  adjusted  it  in  the  clasp,  locked  it  with  a  soft 
click,  and  replaced  the  key  upon  his  chatelaine,  saying : 

"  To-day,  your  birthday,  must  hereafter  mark,  not 
only  the  day  that  gave  you  to  brighten  the  world,  but 
the  brightest  day  in  our  calendar,  until  that  other  day 
that  seems  so  distant  now,  when  I  shall  claim  you  as  my 
bride." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  175 

Aliena,  lifting  her  sacl,  beautiful  eyes  to  the  portrait 
looking  down  upon  them,  said  solemnl}^,  "  I  ought  to 
find  happiness  in  the  thought  that  through  him  I  first 
knew  you.  And  if  the  spirits  of  the  loved  are  ever 
permitted  to  hover  around  those  dear  to  them  on  earth, 
I  pray  that  his  may  be  bending  in  benediction  above  us 
now." 

Impressed  by  the  solemnity  that  tinged  Aliena's  man- 
ner, not  only  now,  but  during  the  whole  evening,  iVlajor 
Baron,  when  he  rose  to  go,  bent  in  almost  reverence, 
Ijarely  touching  with  his  lips  the  taper  fingers  he  took 
in  his  shapely  hand,  as  he  bade  her  good-night. 

He  took  out  his  cigar  case  as  he  walked  on  under  the 
trees  in  the  Campus,  intending  to  smoke,  but  finding  it 
empty,  and  thinking  that  he  might  be  able  to  procure 
some  better  cigars  than  those  to  be  had  at  the  hotel,  he 
strolled  on  down  the  now  almost  deserted  street. 

The  only  lights  at  first  visible  were  in  the  windows 
where  the  great  sapphire,  topaz  and  ruby  colored  globes 
marked  the  druggist's.  He  came  at  length  in  sight  of 
a  light  in  an  insignificant  looking  shop  at  almost  the  ter- 
minus of  the  street.  In  the  window  was  the  inevitable 
savage  warrior  smoking  the  calumet  of  peace,  typical  of 
a  tobacco  shop.  Here  with  the  usual  surroundings  were 
pipes,  cigars  and  tobacco  of  all  sorts. 

Moving  on,  with  the  intention  of  entering  the  shop, 
before  reaching  the  door  Major  Baron  caught  sight 
through  the  windoAv  of  sometliing  which  seemed  sud- 
denly to  paralyze  motion.  It  was  the  beautiful  girlish 
face,  with  the  great,  startled  black  eyes  that  had  so  at- 
tracted Aliena's  admiration  upon  the  cars;  with  the 
sinister  face  of  the  man  who  had  accompanied  her. 
Major  Baron  as  he  halted  aghast  at  this  sight,  w^as  not 
only  near  enough  to  see,  but  to  catch  the  sound  of  the 
voices.  His  painfully  alert  ears  even  distinguished  the 
words  in  the  stillness. 

"I  saw  him,  sure,  again  to-night,  with  his  cursed 
handsome  face.     He  was  clasping  a  bracelet  on  the  arm 


ire.  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

of  the  beautiful  girl  we  saw  on  the  cars.  It  shall  be 
the  worse  for  him.  I  swear  to  God,  Zara,  it  shall  be 
the  worse  for  him,  if  it  is  that  he  does  not  marry  you," 
the  man  hissed  between  his  teeth. 

"  Let  me  see  him,  father.  Let  me  only  see  him.  It 
must  be  that  he  has  come  to  see  me.  He  has  promised 
to  marry  me.  He  has  followed  me  here.  I  liave  not 
despaired.  He  must  pity  me,"  the  low,  musical  voice 
said  pleadingly,  the  sound  dying  out  in  a  wail ;  and  she 
put  her  hands  to  her  face  and  sobbed  aloud. 

"I  swear  to  God  he  shall  marry  you,"  the  man  hissed 
— repeating  more  venomously,  if  possible,  "I  swear  to 
God  he  shall,"  and  his  face  assumed  a  diabolic  look  in 
his  rage. 

Major  Baron,  recovering  himself,  staggered  back  from 
the  shop,  and  walked  rapidly  up  the  street,  pursued  in 
thought  by  this  Nemesis  that  had  thus  unexpectedly 
tracked  his  footsteps  to  this  secluded  spot,  at  a  time 
when  of  all  others  he  adjured  the  presence. 

Coming  again  in  view  of  the  towering  oaks  and  elms 
where  under  their  shadows,  in  one  of  the  old  cloistered 
buildings,  a  white-souled  form  kneeled,  consecrating 
him  and  her  own  troubled  heart  to  God  in  prayer,  Maj. 
Baron  groaned  in  spirit  as  he  hurried  on. 

Returning  to  the  hotel  he  contented  himself  now 
with  the  cigars  to  be  found  there. 

Instead  of  going  to  his  room  he  went  out  upon  the 
deserted  gallery  frontinof  the  University  grounds.  Here 
he  smoked  his  cigar  ineffectually  as  far  as  his  perturbed 
mind  was  concerned.  No  Lotus  weed  had  power  now 
to  tranquil ize  to  Lethean  stillness  the  scorpion  stings 
with  Avhich  conscience  lacerated  the  breast  of  this  Pria- 
pus,  in  face  of  what  he  had  just  seen  and  heard.  He 
tremblingly  realized,  brave  as  he  was  physically,  how 
cruelly  ''  conscience  doth  make  cowards  of  us  all." 

But  for  the  promise  of  marriage  which  he  had  so 
passionately  urged  upon  Aliena,  only  the  day  before  ; 
and  for  the  troth  so  solemnly  renewed  this  evening,  a 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  177 

time  that  from  the  pain  since  endured  seemed  to 
stretch  into  the  dim  past,  he  Avould  have  lied  aflrighted 
as  much  at  thought  of  exposure  as  of  vengeance. 

Tormented  by  doubts,  without  the  apparent  *  possi- 
bility of  a  tenable  conclusion,  Maj.  Baron  sat  possibly 
for  hours  m  fruitless,  per])lexing  thought.  At  length 
crunching  his  unlit  cigar  between  his  teeth,  which  he 
had  long  since  unconsciouslv  allowed  to  go  out  he 
threw  it  from  him  into  the  deserted  street,  and  retired 
to  bed.  Here  he  tossed  in  sleepless  wretchedness  until 
exhausted  he  sank  to  troubled  sleep  as  gray  dawn  crept 
slowly  and  drearily  over  the  horizon. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

"Nay  curs'd  be  thou  since  'gainst  his,  thy  will 
Chose  freely  what  it  now  so  justly  rues 
Me  miserable !  whicli  way  shall  I  fly     ' 
Infinite  wrath  and  infinite  despair  ? 
Which  way  I  fly  is  hell;  myself  am  hell; 
And  in  the  lowest  deep  a  lower  deep 
Still  threat'ning  to  devour  me  opens  wide 
To  which  the  hell  I  suffer  seems  a  heaven." 

MiLTox  :  Paradise  Lost. 

"  Marster,  Miss  Zara  and  old  Varja's  here  I  seen 
him  last  night,"  said  Auguste  to  Maj.  Baron  the  morn- 
ing alter  the  latter  had  himself  so  unexpectedly  become 
aware  of  that  startling  fact. 

"  AVhere  did  you  see  them  ? "  asked  Maj.  Baron, 
nervously  anxious  for  information  in  regard  to  them 

''I  was  a  walkin'down  street  last  night,  lust  after 
you  went  into  the  Campus,  and  I  seen  Vaija  comin' 
towards  me.  I  knowed  him  before  he  got  nigh  me,  and 
1  dodged  around  a  corner.  You  know  he  's  kinder 
savigerous  lookin',  but  I  watched  him  until  I  seen  him 
go  past,  and  go  into  the  Campus." 


178  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  You  keep  out  of  his  way,"  interrupted  Maj.  Baron 
sharply,  in  a  state  of  nervous  irritation  which  quickly 
silenced  Auguste. 

Lounging  in  the  office  of  the  hotel  after  breakfast, 
which  had  an  outlook  upon  the  street,  Maj.  Baron  en- 
deavored to  interest  himself  in  reading  the  war  news. 
But  even  the  stirring  events  of  those  times  could  not 
absorb  his  thoughts,  or  prevent  their  tormenting  him 
with  constantly  recurring  anxiety,  as  to  the  unexpected 
complication  in  which  he  found  himself  involved. 

His  eyes  as  he  sat  here  were  attracted  to  the  street 
by  the  driving  up  of  a  stylish  looking  team  and  phaeton. 
In  this  was  a  young  man  in  the  uniform  of  a  Confeder- 
ate colonel,  with  a  little  more  than  the  regulation  amount 
of  gold  lace.  Throwing  the  reins  to  his  servant,  the 
3'oung  man  sprang  from  the  carriage  and  entered  the 
office. 

''  Why,  how  do  you  do.  Baron  ?  "  he  exclaimed  in  a 
delighted  tone  of  surprise,  as  he  caught  sight  of  Major 
Baron.  And  coming  forward  he  shook  hands  with  him 
in  an  enthusiastic  way. 

There  was  something  about  the  sort  of  roll  in  the 
springy  walk,  and  in  the  easy  devil-may-care  manner  of 
the  young  man,  that  indicated  the  sailor  and  the  cosmo- 
politan. He  was  a  little  above  medium  height,  with 
dark  hair,  a  somewhat  prominent  aquiline  nose,  clear 
gray  eyes,  and  a  carefully  trained  black  mustache  and 
side  whiskers. 

'^I  am  charmed  to  see  you,  Massey,"  said  Major 
Baron  in  delighted  surprise,  his  voice  and  manner  indi- 
cating more  pleasure  than  one  might  have  exjiected  at 
the  time.  ''  Where  did  you  spring  from  ?  I  had  no 
idea  of  meeting  you  here." 

"  Have  you  forgotten  that  this  is  my  home  ?  I  am 
here  on  a  short  furlough,  and  I  am  delighted  to  meet 
you  once  more,  old  fellow.  I  hope  we  may  have  a 
chance  to  renew  some  of  our  Mediterranean  reminis- 
cences, and  have  a  good  time  generally  together.     This 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  179 

is  mj  first  visit  home  since  I  went  into  the  army,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  But  how  on  earth  did  you  hap- 
pen to  bring  up  in  this  quiet  out-of-the-way  little 
place  ?  " 

''  I  had  the  misfortune  to  be  surrendered  at  Vicks- 
burg,  and  am  a  vagabond  upon  the  earth  for  the  time 
being,  floating  around  on  parole." 

"  I  would  like  to  be  tloating  around  myself — liter- 
ally, upon  the  sea,  I  mean.  You  might  as  well  try  to 
make  a  Christian  of  a  Jew,  as  a  land-lubber  of  a  sailor, 

*A  life  on  the  ocean  wave 
A  home  on  the  rolling  deep' 

forever  for  me." 

"  One  scarcely  connects  the  idea  of  home  with  a 
sailor.  I  remember  now^  that  Miss  Graeme  told  me, 
that  this  was  your  home,  but  I  had  really  forgotten  it." 

"  What  Miss  Graeme  are  3'ou  talking  about?" 

"  Don't  you  remember  the  Graemes  that  were  on 
board  your  vessel  with  me  on  several  occasions,  at 
Nice?" 

''Of  course  I  do.  Wasn't  there  a  pretty,  brown- 
eyed,  soft-voiced  girl  in  the  party,  not  quite  grown  ?  " 

''Yes,  with  her  father,  a  tall,  elegant  looking  man, 
and  an  invalid  mother.  They  were  there  for  Mrs. 
Graeme's  health." 

"  Certainly,  I  remember  them.  The  girl  was  about 
in  the  chrysalis  state,  wings  beginning  to  show  ajid 
flutter.  I  fell  half  in  love  with  that  girl,  with  her  ten- 
der, dreamy  l)io  .vn  eyes,  and  a  mouth  as  sensitive  as  a 
mimosa.  Where  did  you  see  them?  And  what  has 
become  of  them  now  ?  " 

"  They  are  here,  refugees,  at  least  the  mother  and 
daughter  are,  in  the  University  buildings." 

"Y^ou  don't  say  so,  that  is  delightful.  I  wonder 
mother  and  sister  have  not  found  them  out — but  pos- 
sibly they  have,  and  not  told  me.  I  only  arrived  yes- 
terday.    I  was  just  beginning  to  wonder  how   I   was 


180  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

to  kill  time.  She  must  be  about  eighteen,  now.  She 
has  plantations  also,  if  I  remember  rightl3^  That  might 
cover  a  multitude  of  sins  even.  But  this  lovely  crea- 
ture in  the  bargain  ?  I  '11  pitch  right  in — provided  you 
are  not  in  before  me." 

"  You  have  not  changed  much  I  see  since  I  saw  you. 
I  thought  time  might  have  cured  you  of  some  of  your 
rattling  nonsense  before  this." 

"  When  did  you  don  the  garb  of  a  saint?  According 
to  my  remembrance  that  was  not  your  normal  condition 
when  I  saw  you  last.  It  strikes  me  that  there  is  some- 
thing of  the  midnight  oil  tinge  about  you — but  I  know 
it  is  n't  study,  unless  it  is  the  study  of  that  most  intri- 
cate problem  that  ever  puzzled  the  brain  of  man — a 
feminine  heart  in  a  pretty  form.  '  Tell  me  in  sadness 
who  it  is  you  love  ?  '  " 

'^  You  forget  that  I  am  recently  from  sultry  trenches, 
bean  bread  and  mule  steak.  You  must  not  expect  me 
to  look  as  fresh  as  a  '  buttermilk  ranger,'  "  said  Major 
Baron  with  a  sickly  effort  at  a  smile. 

"  Since  you  deny  the  soft  impeachment  suppose  we 
go  over  at  once  and  call  upon  Miss  Graeme  ?  There  is 
no  time  we  can  be  sure  of  but  the  present.  My  fur- 
lough is  short  and  I  must  be  like  the  little  busy  bee. 
Don't  think  I  mean  anything  personal,  but  I  feel  that  I 
am  wasting  time  talking  to  a  man.  I  have  been  with 
'villainous  bearded  pards '  until  I  am  tempted  to  for- 
swear the  society  of  man  forever.  I  have  made  a  vow 
that  if  I  ever  get  out  of  this  war  I  will  either  set  up  a 
millinery  establishment,  or  open  a  boarding  school  for 
young  ladies  exclusively,"  said  Colonel  Massey. 

"I  have  not  told  3'ou  that  INIiss  Graeme  lost  her 
father  two  years  ago.  He  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Manassas,"  said  Major  Baron. 

'*  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that.  I  remember  to  have  seen 
a  notice  of  the  death  of  a  Colonel  Graeme  and  of  his 
gallantry  upon  the  battlefield  of  Manassas,  and  I  won- 
dered at  the  time  if  it  was  the  same  person.     Whatever 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  181 

became  of  your  friend  who  was  traveling  with  you  in 
Italy?     I  have  forgotten  his  name." 

"  Seldon  ?  He  is  in  the  Yankee  army.  Does  n't  that 
seem  strange  ? "  said  Major  Baron.  And  drawing  on 
his  gloves  they  walked  on  toward  the  Campus. 

"  By  Jove  I  That  must  be  the  siren  singing  now. 
And  never  did 

*  Mother  Circe  and  the  sirens  three 
Amidst  the  flowery  Kaiades 
Culling  their  potent  herbs  and  haneful  drugs, 
Who,  as  they  sung,  Avould  take  the  prisoned  soul 
And  lap  it  in  Elysium,' 

sing  a  sweeter  song.  It  is  an  Italian  one  too  as  I  live. 
It  carries  me  back  to  the  billowy  waves  and  soft  air  of  ^ 
the  Mediterranean.  What  glorious  times  we  had  there. 
That  must  be  Miss  Graeme  herself,  and  that  is  one  of 
the  memories  of  that  land  of  song  she  has  revived.  I 
don't  wonder  that  Ulj^sses  had  to  be  tied  to  his  mast 
and  his  ears  stopped  with  ^vax,  if  the  sirens  ever  uttered 
sounds  as  sweet  as  that,"  said  Colonel  Massey  as  they 
arrived  at  the  door. 

Aliena  rose  froni  the  piano  as  they  were  ushered  into 
the  room,  and  not  only  recognized  Colonel  ^lassey,  but 
moved  forward  and  greeted  him  with  such  evident  pleas- 
ure as  charmed  him.  A  salutation  to  which  he  responded 
with  even  more  than  his  usual  enthusiasm. 

"Don't  let  our  coming  stop  3^our  music,"  said  Colonel 
Massey  after  a  few  greeting  remarks  had  been  inter- 
changed. "  Nothing  could  have  more  charmingly 
reminded  me  of  the  days  Avhen  we  were  together  upon 
the  Mediterranean  than  the  song  you  were  singing.  It 
Hooded  me  with  memories  of  those  times." 

"  I  am  indebted  to  Major  Baron  for  recalling  it,  and 
if  he  will  join  me  I  will  sing  it  with  pleasure,"  she 
replied. 

Major  Baron  had  seated  kimself  a  little  apart,  and 
seemed  to  have  sunk  into  an  abstracted  mood,  but  he 
rose  now  mechanically,  and  without  replying,  walked  to 


182  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

the  piauo  with  Alieim.  And  soon  his  rich  tenor  voice 
was  mingling  with  hers  in  the  song. 

Major  Baron,  standing  by  Aliena's  side,  faced  the 
open  Avindow  where  the  curtains  were  drawn  partly 
aside  to  admit  the  air. 

Suddenly  his  voice  faltered  into  a  discord.  Looking 
up  at  him  Aliena  was  surprised  and  shocked  at  the  fixed 
look  of  terror  depicted  upon  his  blanched  face  as  he 
stood,  as  though  transfixed,  with  his  eyes  riveted  upon 
the  window. 

Following  their  direction  she  saw,  between  the  cur- 
tains, the  sinister  face  of  a  man,  his  eyes  glittering  like  a 
tiger's  ready  to  spring  upon  his  prey,  as  he  peered  into 
rhe  room.     The  man  moved  on  almost  instantl}-. 

Aliena,  turning  to  Major  Baron,  whose  face  still  wore 
a  strangely  terrified  conscience-smitten  expression, 
asked : 

"Who  was  that  horrible  man?  What  could  he  have 
wanted  here  ?  " 

"1  am  sure  I  can't  tell,"  said  Major  Baron  with  pain- 
ful embarrassment. 

"  His  expression  was  murderous  as-lie  peered  in,'*  said 
Aliena. 

"It  was  all  lost  upon  me,"  said  Colonel  Massey,  "I 
was  too  much  absorbed  in  the  music  to  have  seen  him, 
even  if  I  could  have  done  so  where  I  sat.  Let  me  get  a 
sight  of  the  impudent  intruder,"  and  moving  toward  the 
window  he  looked  out  and  added,  "His  back  looks 
mild  enough.  I  suppose  he  was  passing  through  the 
Campus,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  your  music 
drew  him,  as  it  might  have  done  the  very  stocks  and 
stones.     For  never 

'  Did  Thracian  shepherd  by  the  grave 
Of  Orpheus  hear  a  sweeter  melody.' " 

This  proved  a  fortunate  diversion  for  Major  Baron, 
as  it  gave  him  an  opportunity  somewhat  to  recover  him- 
self. 


TITE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  183 

'^  I  met  that  man  on  the  cars  as  we  were  coming  here 
from  Chattanooga,"  said  Aliena.  "I  was  struck  then 
with  the  sinister  expression  of  his  face,  and  with  his 
disagreeable  voice  and  manner ;  the  more  so  from  the 
contrast  with  his  companion,  a  beautiful  girl,  about 
seventeen.  She  reminded  me  of  the  Beatrici  Cenci,  in 
the  Colonna  palace,"  Aliena  said,  and  looking  up  at 
Major  Baron  she  was  again  strangely  and  painfully  im- 
pressed by  the  look  of  conscience-smitten  embarrassment 
depicted  in  his  face.  And  a  feeling  of  contempt  flashed 
through  her  mind,  in  spite  of  herself,  as  she  connected 
this  with  the  terror-stricken  expression  it  had  worn  while 
the  peering  face  scowled  in  at  the  Avindow. 

The  conversation,  drifting  to  other  subjects,  devolved 
principally  upon  Col.  iNIassey,  who  seemed  at  no  loss  for 
topics  of  interest,  in  reminiscences  with  which  he  went 
on  in  spite  of  the  abstracted  expression  in  Aliena's 
face. 

As  they  were  about  leaving,  Aliena,  who  could  not 
but  observe  Maj.  Baron's  silence  and  depression,  as  well 
as  his  unusual  pallor,  feeling  that  in  her  mind  she  had 
possibly  been  doing  him  injustice,  said,  addressing 
him, 

"  Are  you  feeling  well  to-day  Maj.  Baron?  It  seems 
to  me  that  you  are  looking  pale." 

'•  Yes — no,  I  am  not  feeling  very  well,"  he  answered, 
truly  in  a  certain  sense  at  least,  his  face  reddening  like 
a  girl's,  as  he  met  her  scrutinizing  look.  And  bidding 
her. good-morning  they  left. 

"  Look  here,  Baron,"  said  Col.  Massey  as  they  left 
the  house,  "  that  was  a  confounded  shabby  trick  you 
were  trying  to  play  off  upon  me,  making  me  believe  I 
had  an  open  sea  and  nothing  to  do  but  sail  into  port, 
and  drop  anchor.  You  are  in  love  with  that  girl  your- 
self; I  never  saw  you  regularly  sjoooney  before.  lam 
a  little  dubious  about  entering  against  you.  I  may  not 
find  it  easy  sailing  after  all.  Somehow  you  always 
seemed    to    have    the    knack   of   getting   away    with 


184  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

women.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  that  is  the  secret  of 
finding  you  here  in  this  quiet  little  out-of-the-way  haven. 
You  '11  be  a  lucky  dog  if  you  get  her.  I  would  be 
willing  to  '  forswear  villainy  and  vice  '  for  the  balance  of 
my  days  for  such  a  prize." 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  so  easily  driven  off.  I  am  wil- 
ling to  accept  the  situation.  Though  3'ou  flatter  me, 
I  fear,  and  I  could  never  expect  to  win  if  you  really 
entered  the  list,"  said  Maj.  Baron  with  a  sickly  effort 
at  badinage. 

"  Don't  let's  go  back  to  the  hotel.  Get  in  with  me, 
and  I'll  drive  you  around  and  show  you  some  of  the 
beauties  of  our  place,"  said  Col.  Massey,  as  they  were 
crossing  the  street  to  the  hotel  where  he  had  left  his 
phaeton. 

"  That  will  be  an  improvement  upon  loafing  around 
the  hotel,"  said  Maj.  Baron.  "I  have  been  giving 
myself  up  to  a  sort  of  dolce  far  niente  since  I  came  here 
and  have  seen  very  little  of  your  place.  I  needed  rest 
after  what  we  had  to  undergo  at  Vicksburg,  but  I  am 
getting  restless  with  inaction  I  suppose.  I  am  a  sort  of 
bird  of  passage  any  way." 

Eeturning  to  the  hotel,  after  driving  for  some  time, 
Col.  Massey  said  as  he  was  about  leaving,  "  Baron,  we 
are  to  have  the  fatted  calf  at  our  house  Wednesday 
evening,  in  honor  of  the  returned  prodigal,  with  a 
dance  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Gen.  Carleton  has 
halted  here,  passing  through,  with  part  of  his  division ; 
we  expect  it  to  be  rather  a  brilliant  affair.  Can't  you 
come  and  bring  Miss  Graeme  ?  I  want  you  to  know 
my  family.  Though  I  don't  pretend  to  much  modesty, 
and  consider  myself  a  pretty  fair  specimen.  I  am  by 
no  means  the  best  of  the  clan." 

"  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  becoming  acquainted  with 
your  family,  and  will  do  my  best  to  induce  Miss  Graeme 
to  accompany  me  to  the  party,  though  I  can't  promise 
for  her."  And  saying  good-morning.  Colonel  Massey 
drove  off. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  185 


CHAPTER  XXXII.   " 

"  You  are  no  surer,  no, 
Than  is  the  coal  of  fire  upon  the  ice. 
Or  hailstone  in  the  sun. 
Lo,  here  upon  thy  cheek  the  stain  doth  sit 
Of  an  old  tear  tliat  is  not  Avashed  off." 

Shakspeaee. 

The  same  feeling  of  annoyance  and  apprehension  re- 
turned with  redoubled  force  to  Major  Baron,  when, 
having  re-entered  the  hotel,  he  found  time  for  thought 
in  his  own  room.  The  scowling  face  of  Varja,  as  he 
had  recklessly  peered  in  at  the  window,  had  not  been 
calculated  to  lessen  this  feeling.  Seating  himself  wearily. 
Major  Baron's  contracted  brow  and  compressed  lips  in- 
dicated his  sorely  anxious  thoughts. 

He  sat  here  for  hours,  perhaps.  Having  reached  the 
conclusion  at  lengtli,  that  his  only  hope  for  safety  from 
exposure  and  vengeance  lay  in  Zara's  love  and  interpo- 
sition in  his  behalf,  he  determined  to  seek  an  interview^ 
with  her,  doubtful  as  was  the  prudence  and  expediency 
of  this  step. 

With  this  purpose  in  view  he  now  wrote  to  her : 

" Zara : 

I  am  here  to  see  you.  I  should  have  done  so  before 
but  for  reasons  I  will  explain  when  we  meet.  Be  in 
the  cemetery,  near  the  large  mausoleum  at  sunset.     C. 

July  17,1863." 

The  drive  of  the  morning  had  brought  him  in  view  of 
this  spot,  and  from  its  seclusion  it  had  suggested  itself 
to  him  as  the  place  for  this  meeting,  least  likely  to  at-, 
tract  observation,  or  if  seen  to  arouse  suspicion. 

Ringing  for  Auguste,  he  asked,  '-'-  Have  you  seen  Varja 
this  morning?  " 

''  Yes,  marster.  I  seen  him  come  up  the  street  and 
go  into  the  Campus  just  after  you  and  that  gentleman 
in  the  Colonel's  uniform  went  in  there." 


186  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  Here  is  a  note  I  wish  you  to  get  into  Miss  Zara's 
hands  without  her  father's  seeing  it.     If  you  can't  do  it  # 
yourself  without  being  seen  by  him,  and  I  want  you  to 
keep  out  of  his  sight,  get  some  one  else  to  do  it.     But  be 
sure  that  it  is  put  into  her  hands.     Here  is  some  money." 

"Yes,  marster,  I'll  see  that  it  gets  there,  sure,"  said 
Auguste  in  a  sprightly  voice.  A  tone  as  much  the  con- 
sequence of  the  satisfaction  in  engaging  in  a  surrepti- 
tious affair  as  of  the  possession  of  the  money  placed  in 
]iis  hands. 

"  Auguste,  I  shan't  need  that  brown  cloth  suit  of  mine, 
you  can  have  it.     You  are  looking  rather  shabby." 

"  Thank  you,  marster,"  he  replied  with  a  military  salute. 

"And  I  want  you  to  get  me  the  handsomest  bouquet 
and  some  of  the  finest  peaches  and  grapes  to  be  had, 
and  have  them  here  before  sunset." 

"  Yes,  marster,  I  '11  have  'em  here.  The  finest  to  be 
had  in  this  legion  of  country,"  said  Auguste,  and  wait- 
ing to  see  if  his  master  had  any  farther  commands,  he 
disappeared. 

Major  Baron  tried  to  pass  away  the  time  until  even- 
ing by  sleeping ;  more  to  rid  himself  of  thought  than 
because  he  had  scarcely  slept  at  all  the  night  before. 
But  he  found  sleep  impossible.  Rising  he  took  a  book, 
hoping  to  find  relief  in  thtit,  but  failed  equally. 

Auguste  came  at  length  with  the  flowers  and  fruit, 
and  with  the  assurance  of  the  safe  delivery  of  the  note 
to  Zara.     Major  Baron  then  wrote  to  Aliena : 

"  I  am  sorely  disappointed  in  not  being  able  to  be 
with  you  this  evening  as  I  had  hoped,  but  I  am  not 
feeling  well.  I  send  the  flowers  and  fruit  to  represent 
me.  If  the  flowers  do  not  say  everything  that  is  beauti- 
ful and  sweet  to  you,  they  are  recreant  messengers.  I 
shall  envy  the  grapes  and  peaches  the  privilege  of  being 
pressed  to  tlie  sweetest  lips  that  man  ever  hoped  to 
possess.  I  will  see  you  to-morrow,  until  which  eternity, 
Lovingly  and  truly  yours, 

Athens,  July  17,  1863.  Cecil  Baeon." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  187 

Augiiste,  having  been  despatched  with  this  note,  and 
with  the  flowers  and  fruit,  Major  Baron  started  by  a 
circuitous  route  toward  the  cemetery,  not  daring  to  go 
through  the  Campus.  Happening  upon  a  path  that  led 
him  by  a  retired  way  over  some  stiles,  he  walked  on 
toward  the  mausoleum.  It  was  almost  twilight,  when, 
guided  by  the  towering  spire,  he  made  his  way  to  the 
designated  place  of  meeting. 

Zara,  who  for  some  time  had  awaited  Major  Baron, 
had,  as  she  thought,  heard  footsteps  approaching  and  had 
moved  out  to  view.  But  failing  to  see  any  one,  and 
awakened  to  renewed  fear  of  observation,  tliough  it  was 
late  for  loiterers,  she  seated  herself,  almost  crouching  in 
the  tall  grass,  behind  the  tomb.  Hence  at  first  Major 
Baron  failed  to  discern  her.  Starting  again  nervously 
as  his  footsteps  announced  his  approach,  and  catching 
sight  of  him  now,  she  rose  to  her  feet.  Trembling  with 
emotion,  she  awaited  his  approach. 

"  Oh  !  Cecil,  I  thought  you  would  never  come,"  she 
gasped  out  as  he  drew  near.  And  throwing  herself 
upon  his  breast,  she  clasped  her  arms  around  his  neck, 
sobbing  convulsively  upon  his  slioulder,  as  his  arms 
coldly  supported  her. 

The  feelings  that  surged  through  the  breast  of  Major 
Baron  may  be  more  easily  imagined  than  described,  as 
he  stood  thus  stonil}'  clasped  by  arms  whose  caress  had 
once  had  so  different  a  power.  He  raised  the  beauti- 
ful, tear-stained  face  at  length  and  kissed  her  on  the 
brow.  Zara's  heart  sank  within  her  as  she  felt  hoAv 
coldly. 

"  Oh  !  Cecil,  it  was  so  long — and  I  could  not  see  you, 
or  let  you  know  where  I  was.  How  did  you  find  me 
here  ?  " 

"  It  does  not  matter  how  I  found  you,  does  it  ?  so  I 
am  here,"  said  Major  Baron. 

Both  started  guiltily  at  a  sound,  as  of  a  twig  stepped 
upon  and  crackling  under  foot. 

"  Come,  let  us  walk  on,"  said  Major  Baron  in  a  sup- 


138  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

pressed  tone,  and  they  took  the  path  leading  down  to 
the  river. 

"  Does  your  father  know  anything  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,  I  could  not  help  it,"  she  replied,  laying  her  icy 
hand  on  his  arm  and  looking  into  his  face  with  an  ap- 
pealing, frightened  ex2)ression  in  the  great,  black  eyes. 

"  He  is  so  violent  it  frightens  me.  Try  not  to  cross 
his  path,  Cecil.  He  was  wild  with  rage  to-day.  He 
says  he  saw  you  bending  over  a  beautiful  young  lady — 
singing  love  songs  with  her.  Do  not  arouse  my  father. 
I  cannot  tell  what  he  may  do.  You  could  not  desert 
me,  Cecil?     You  could  not  desert  me  now?" 

"  You  must  quiet  your  father.  Tell  him  I  have 
come  to  marry  you.  You  can  keep  him  from  doing 
anything  rash." 

''Then  you  have  come  to  marry  me,  my  darling?  " 
she  said,  clasping  his  arm  with  both  her  hands,  and 
looking  up  beseechingly  into  his  handsome,  stony  face. 

"  Yes,  to  marry,"  he  answered  coldly. 

"  When  ?  my  noble,  good  Cecil,  when  ?  "  she  asked, 
clinofinof  to  him. 

"  I  cannot  say  what  day  yet,  but  soon.  I  must  be 
ready  to  take  you  away.  I  am  obliged  to  be  here  for 
a  while." 

"It  must  be  soon,"  the  girl  said,  turning  scarlet  in 
the  twiliglit. 

'^I  must  go  now,"  he  answered  stolidly. 

The  sound  of  the  falling  water  around  them — the  rip- 
ple, gargle,  splash  and  roar,  with  the  deepening  and 
dying  wail  in  the  pines,  that  the  evening  breeze  brought 
to  him  in  the  twilight,  surrounded  as  he  was  by  the 
ghostly-white  tombs,  added  to  the  heart-sickness  that 
oppressed  Major  Baron,  as  they  retraced  their  steps. 

"  We  must  part  here,"  he  said  as  they  reached  the 
stiles. 

"  When  shall  I  see  you  again?"  Zara  asked. 

"  Thursday,  here  by  the  river.  You  had  best  go 
now,"  he  said,  as  Zara  halted  looking  into  his  face,  per- 


THE  FEET  OF  GLA  Y.  189 

liaps  for  a  different  parting,  and  she  moved  slowly  and 
sadly  on.  He  waited  until  she  was  lost  to  view,  and 
then  followed,  stealing  back  in  the  darkness  to  the 
hotel. 

Zara  walked  on  alone  with  a  sorely  aching  heart — 
despite  the  reiterated  promise  of  marriage.  Thinking 
of  liis  manner,  which  she  knew  too  well  not  to  mark  the 
change.  Heart-sore  she  entered,  through  a  side  door, 
the  room  in  the  rear  of  the  shop. 

In  a  few  moments  she  saw  her  father  come  into  the 
shop  through  the  front  door;  where  only  the  dim  taper 
kept  burning  to  light  cigars,  was  yet  lighted.  He  came 
on  into  the  room  where  Zara  was  in  the  act  of  striking 
a  light. 

''  Where  is  it  that  you  have  been,  Zara  ?  "  he  asked 
abruptly,  in  a  fierce  tone.  Zara  saw  the  demon  look 
lowering  under  his  eyebrow,  and  she  knew  she  must 
answer  truthfully. 

"  I  have  been  to  meet  him.  He  is  to  marry  me.  It 
will  be  soon." 

"What  day?"  the  father  asked, through  clinched  teeth. 

"  He  wants  to  take  me  away.  He  has  some  business. 
He  must  attend  to  that  first.  He  cannot  say  what  day 
yet." 

"  I  tell  you,  Zara,  if  it  is  not  soon  that  it  is  done  he 
shall  wake  up  in  hell.  I  swear  to  God  he  shall  wake 
up  in  hell." 

"  Father,"  said  Zara  in  an  entreating  tone,  moving 
towards  him,  and  putting  her  hand  on  his  shoulder, 
"  Have  pity  upon  me,  I  love  him." 

"  Is  it  that  he  pities  you  ?  "  he  said,  throwing  her 
hand  off  fiercely. 

"  Your  mother  gave  her  life  for  you.  You  are  my 
all.  And  he  comes  Avith  devil's  arts.  I  don't  want 
that  I  see  him.  If  it  is  not  soon  that  he  marries  you 
he  shall  wake  up  in  hell.  I  swear  to  God  he  shall  wake 
up  in  hell."  Varja  hissed  through  his  clinched  teeth, 
grinding  them  in  his  rage. 


190  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

Did  the  flowers  sent  speak  beautiful  things  to  Aliena  ? 
If  they  spoke  truthfully  the  violets,  tea  roses,  and 
jasmines  must  have  exhaled  mournfully  circling  in- 
cense around  the  altar  of  a  dead  love,  over  which  the 
grapes  poured  a  funeral  libation,  while  nodding  fuchsias 
and  fairy  bells  tolled  a  requiem. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

"  At  my  poor  house  look  to  behold  this  night, 
Earth  treading  stars  that  make  dark  heaven  light." 

Shakspeare, 

The  following  evening  Maj.  Baron  paid  his  accus- 
tomed visit  to  Aliena.  He  v/as  looking  sufficiently 
jaded  and  depressed  to  confirm  what  he  had  written, 
that  he  was  not  feeling  well.  Having  little  desire  to 
converse,  he  soon  asked  Aliena  to  sing.  He  regretted 
the  request  the  next  moment  as  he  thought  with  appre- 
hension of  the  sardonic  face  her  voice  might  again  con- 
jure to  the  open  window.  But,  walking  with  her  to  the 
piano,  as  he  returned  he  silently  closed  the  blinds,  and 
seated  himself  lolling  wearily  back  in  his  chair  while 
she  sang. 

It  may  have  been  her  own  mood,  or  Maj.  Baron's 
may  unconsciously  have  affected  her,  but  Aliena  too 
seemed  for  some  reason  to  prefer  singing,  and  she  went 
on  from  one  song  of  profoundest  sadness  to  another, 
singing  with  unwonted  pathos. 

He  made  his  visit  shorter  than  usual,  almost  forget- 
ting to  ask,  as  he  had  promised  Col.  Massey  to  do,  if 
Aliena  would  go  with  him  to  the  party. 

"I  suppose  you  are  invited  to  the  Masseys  for 
Thursday  evening,"  he  said  listlessly  as  he  rose  to  leave. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  191 

"  Yes,  Col.  Massey  and  his  sister  called  yesterday 
and  invited  me." 

''  Will  you  allow  me  the  pleasure  of  escorting  you 
there  ?  "  he  asked  indiHerently,  hoping  really  that  she 
would  decline. 

But  something  lately  seemed  to  have  inspired  Aliena 
with  a  strange  spirit  of  recklessness.  This  must  have 
come  over  her  now,  as  hesitating  for  a  moment,  to  Maj. 
]3aron's  surprise  she  replied,  "  Yes,  I  Avill  go." 

Mauma  was  thrown  into  an  intense  state  of  delighted 
excitement,  when  Aliena  the  next  morning  announced 
her  intention  to  go  to  the  party.  ''  What  are  you  goin' 
to  wear,  honey  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  The  same  swiss  I  wore  the  other  evening,  I  sup- 
pose, I  had  not  thought  of  that." 

''  Laws  a  marcy  I  honey,  it  would  never  do  for  you  to 
wear  that  dress.  You've  done  worn  it  twice  already. 
And  there's  that  satin  I  told  you  I  fetched  along ;  that 
could  easy  be  made  up  in  time  for  the  party,  and  the 
lovely  lace  overdress  that  mistiss  bought  in  the  old 
country  for  your  comin  out  dress,  you  know  she  never 
could  desist  lace ;  and  the  handkerchief  and  the  pearl 
handled  fan  just  to  match,  and  mistiss  dimuns.  That 
would  just  look  lovely  ? "  and  Mauma's  face  fairly 
glowed  with  delight  at  the  possibility  of  seeing  Aliena 
thus  arrayed. 

''  I  might  as  well  wear  the  lace  and  satin,  I  suppose," 
said  Aliena. 

"  I'm  powerful  glad,  honey.  That  '11  be  somethin  like. 
You  ain't  had  no  thin  but  sorrer  and  tribberlation 
these  last  years  of  your  life  noways,  honey ;  and  I  know 
the  Lord  must  have  some  good  in  store  for  you.  I  did 
think  you  was  gettin  sorter  perked  up,  before  we  left 
home,  but  it  'pears  like  to  me  since  we  got  inter  this 
great  old,  hanted  house  that  you've  been  monsus 
onrestless  in  yer  mind.  It  don't  never  do  to  shut  young- 
folks  up  like  they  was  in  a  nunnery,  where  they  can't 
have  no  reversion." 


192  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

When  Major  Baron  called  for  Aliena  the  evening  of 
the  party,  he  found  her  looking  lovely,  in  the  soft, 
creamy  satin,  which,  training  in  graceful  folds,  gave  a 
statuesque  appearance  to  her  exquisitely  rounded  form, 
draped  as  it  was  with  gossamer  i:)oint  de  Veiiice  lace  of 
rare  design,  caught  here  and  there  over  the  satin,  with 
dewy  lilies  of  the  valley.  The  pure  white  of  her  round- 
ed arms  and  bust  veiled  Avith  the  lace  scarcely  con- 
trasted with  the  pear-shaped  pearls  pendent  from  her 
ears  and  suspended  about  her  throat.  The  pearls  had 
been  a  bridal  present  to  her  aunt,  of  melancholy  memory, 
wdiose  portrait,  hanging  in  the  dining-room  of  the  Castle, 
Aliena  was  said  so  strangely  to  resemble.  These,  partly 
veiled  by  the  lace,  rose  and  fell  with  the  soft  breathing 
with  faint  iridescent  shimmer.  Spraj'S  of  the  same  dewy 
lilies  nestled  at  her  bosom,  and  in  her  golden  brown 
curls ;  and,  with  roses  and  fuchsias,  formed  the  exquis- 
ite bouquet,  which,  with  her  lace,  fan  and  handkerchief 
she  carried  in  her  hand.  The  jew^eled  serpent  glitter- 
iug  upon  her  arm  was  the  only  colored  ornament  she 
wore. 

Professor  and  Mrs.  Lay  ton  had,  at  Miss  Massey's 
suggestion,  proffered  to  chaperone  Aliena,  and  being 
announced,  Slajor  Baron  wrapped  a  fleecy  white  shawl 
about  the  lovely  girl,  and  going  out  they  joined  the 
other  couple  in  the  carriage.  They  soon  entered  the 
beautiful  grounds  of  the  Masseys,  and  through  its 
winding  carriage  drive,  came  in  view  of  the  imposing 
house  now  flooded  with  light. 

The  colonnade  in  front  of  the  house,  reached  by  a 
broad  flight  of  steps,  extended  not  only  across  the  front 
of  the  main  building,  but  around  the  sides,  thence 
spreading  out  before  the  wide  wings.  Both  pedestals 
and  capitals  of  the  columns  as  well  as  the  massive 
cornice  were  elaborately  adorned  with  carvings  of  lotus 
leaves  and  flowers. 

Through  the  grand  doorway  of  the  great  hall,  and 
through  the  lace   draped  ample  windows,  open  to  the 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  193 

floor,  the  light  streamed  out  upon  the  colonnade.  Here, 
ladies  in  gracefully  llowing  trains,  and  gentlemen  re- 
splendent in  the  gold  lace,  stars  and  bars  of  their  mili- 
tary uniforms,  promenaded  in  couples  in  constantly 
interweaving  lines. 

Professor  and  Mrs.  Layton  with  Major  Baron  and 
Aliena  having  entered,  moved  through  the  thronged 
rooms  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  host  and  hostess. 
Judge  Massey  received  them  with  that  courtly  dignity 
and  grace  which  was  natural  to  him.  Mrs.  ]\Iassey 
welcomed  them  cordially,  but  in  her  calm,  dignified 
way,  which  was  as  unlike  her  son's  manner  as  was  her 
appearance  in  her  quaker-colored  silk  and  white  lace 
head-dress. 

''  I  am  delighted  to  see  you,"  said  Colonel  Massey, 
approaching  Aliena,  as  soon  as  he  caught  sight  of  her. 
"  I  had  begun  to  fear  you  Avould  play  us  false,  and  not 
make  your  appearance.  When  can  I  have  the  pleasure 
of  a  dance  with  you  ?  I  have  been  reserving  myself  for 
this  privilege." 

"  I  am  not  likely  to  be  burdened  with  engagements 
as  you  may  imagine,  as  you  and  Major  Baron  are  the 
only  acquaintances  I  have  here.  Unless  I  except  your 
father  and  Prof.  Layton,  who  is  scarcely  likely  to  un- 
])end  the  dignity  of  his  portly  person,  to  say  nothing  of 
his  profession,  by  '  capering  in  the  nimble  dance,'  "  said 
Aliena  smiling. 

"  I  don't  know  about  Prof.  Layton,  but  I  am  sure  if 
father  thought  he  could  have  the  honor  of  your  hand 
he  would  at  least  walk  a  stately  minuet  with  you.  But 
I  shall  claim  the  j^rivilege  of  representing  him  upon  this 
occasion.  Major  Baron,  I  suppose,  lays  claim  to  the 
first  dance.     The  next  is  a  waltz,  can  I  have  that?" 

''I  have  a  prior  claim  to  that  also,"  interposed  Major 
Baron  quickly. 

''  The  set  after,  then  ?  "  said  Colonel  Massey. 

And  receiving  an  affirmative  answer  he  hurried  off  to 
secure  a  partner  for  the  coming  quadrille. 

13 


194  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Major  Baron  proffered  his  arm,  and,  as  they  walked 
on  to  take  their  position  for  the  dance,  he  said  to  Aliena, 

"  Pardon  me  for  asserting  a  chum  to  the  waltz  that  I 
did  not  possess,  but  I  could  not  endure  the  thought  of 
seeing  3^ou  waltz  witli  any  one  else.'' 

"I  had  not  intended  to  waltz.  If  I  should  waltz 
with  you  now,  I  must  with  Colonel  Massey." 

"  Your  waltzing  with  me  is  quite  different,  you  can 
give  him  some  excuse  if  he  asks  again." 

"  I  shall  certainly  tell  him  only  the  truth  if  I  give  him 
any  excuse,"  said  Aliena,  coldl}-,  and  the  music  com- 
mencing she  moved  off  in  the  dance. 

"  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you  here,"  said  Miss  Massey, 
approaching  and  offering  her  hand  cordially  to  Aliena 
as  the  waltz  ended.  "  Let  me  introduce  Captain  Bran- 
don?" she  said,  introducing  the  gentleman  upon  whose 
arm  she  was  leaning.  "  Have  you  seen  Pres?  I  know 
he  would  have  been  disappointed  if  you  had  not  come. 
But  there  he  comes  now." 

"  Why,  Nell,  I  scarcely  knew  you.  I  was  wondering 
who  it  was  that  seemed  to  know  Z\Iiss  Graeme  so  well,"' 
said  Colonel  Massey. 

"  It  seems  odd,  but  between  the  sea  and  the  war  I 
don't  think  you  have  ever  seen  me  in  evening  dress 
since  I  was  out  of  pinafores,"  said  Miss  Massey,  who 
was  looking  quite  radiant,  flushed  from  the  dance,  in  a 
peach  blossom,  pink  silk  and  roses  to  correspond. 

She  was  wonderfully  like  her  brother  in  appearance, 
with  the  same  somewhat  aquiline  profile,  which  they 
inherited  from  their  father,  dark  hair,  gray,  spirited 
eyes,  fine  teeth  and  complexion.  She  was  decidedly 
distingue  in  appearance,  with  a  fine  form  and  bearing, 
and  something  of  dash  in  her  stjdish  person. 

"  This  is  my  set,"  said  Colonel  Massey,  holding  out 
his  hand  to  lead  Aliena  to  their  position  upon  the  floor, 
as  Miss  Massey 's  partner  came  to  claim  her. 

"  I  did  not  see  you  in  the  waltz  ?  "  he  continued  as 
they  moved  on. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  195 

"  I  was  not  there,"  Aliena  replied  laconically. 

"I  am  really  disappointed.  I  understood  that  you 
were  to  waltz  with  Major  Baron,  or  I  should  have 
claimed  you  mj'self." 

"It  was  a  mistake,"  she  answered  in  the  same  laconic 
style.  Something  in  her  tone  prevented  his  continu- 
ing the  subject. 

Colonel  Massey's  contagious  spirits,  the  exhilaration 
of  the  dance,  or  some  more  subtile  influence  which  had 
of  late  made  Aliena  less  equable  in  spirits  than  was 
natural  with  her,  must  have  conduced  to  the  unnatural 
gayety  which  seemed  to  possess  her  for  the  time.  This 
showed  itself  in  her  lustrous  eyes  and  in  her  heightened 
color,  making  her  almost  dazzling  in  beauty  and  adding 
a  piquancy  and  brilliancy  to  her  conversation  which 
drew  around  her  a  throng  of  admirers  during  the  whole 
evening. 

Having  finished  their  dance,  Colonel  Massey  claimed 
Aliena  for  a  promenade  upon  the  colonnade.  ^  As  they 
walked  across  the  brilliantly  lighted  rooms,  her  color 
suddenly  left  her  for  the  moment,  surging  back  in  deli- 
cate pink,  as  in  the  distance  she  saw  Dr.  Leigh,  who 
had  just  entered  the  rooms. 

He  bowed  as  his  eyes  met  hers,  his  face  lighting  up  in 
delighted  surprise  at  seeing  her  here,  as  well  as  at  the 
dazzling  transformation  in  her  appearance. 

"  Where  did  you  know  Dr.  Leigh  ?  "  asked  Colonel 
Massey,  seeing  her  recognition. 

"Mother  was  extremely  ill  at  Chattanooga,  and  I 
think  he  saved  her  life." 

"  He  is  one  of  our  most  distinguished  surgeons  and 
physicians  ;  you  were  fortunate  in  having  him  with  your 
mother.  He  has  been  sent  here  to  open  some  hospkals 
I  hear,  on  account  of  the  retreat  of  our  army  in  Ten- 
nessee. He  only  came  yesterday.  ]Mother  has  known 
his  family  always.  He  belongs  to  one  of  the  most  his- 
toric families  of  South  Carolina,  and  is  an  elegant 
gentleman,  though  I  need  not  tell  you  this,  as  you  have 


196  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

no  doubt  discovered  that  fact  for  yourself.  I  am  a  lit- 
tle surprised  that  he  accepted  the  invitation  for  to-night. 
I  had  heard  that  since  his  wife's  death  he  never  went 
into  society.  I  have  a  vague  sort  of  remembrance  that 
there  was  something  unusually  sad  and  painful  con- 
nected with  his  married  life.  You  knew,  I  suppose, 
that  he  had  lost  his  wife  ?  " 

Aliena  made  no  reply,  but  shivered  strangely,  leaning 
heavily  upon  Col.  Massey's  arm. 

"  I  fear  the  night  air  chills  you  after  dancing.  Shall 
we  go  into  the  conservatory?" 

''  No,  no,  let  me  stay  here,"  said  Aliena. 

"  I  am  afraid  if  you  were  to  ask  me  to  give  you  your 
'quietus  with  a  bare  bodkin'  in  that  tone,  I  should 
scarcely  be  able  to  resist,  much  less  to  do  anything  so 
agreeable  to  myself,"  said  Colonel  Massey,  continuing 
their  promenade. 

The  music  commencing,  Aliena  was  sought  by  her 
partner  for  the  dance.  As  she  took  her  position  Dr. 
Leigh  approached  her.  He  came  forward  with  that 
quiet,  self  oblivious  ease  which  always  distinguished 
him.  His  superiority  seemed  instinctively  accorded 
him  by  the  admirers  by  whom  Aliena  was  surrounded, 
who  were  seeking  engagements  to  dance.  Dr.  Leigh 
was  not  in  his  surgeon's  uniform,  as  she  had  been  ac- 
customed to  see  him,  but  wore  instead  the  conventional 
suit  of  black  cloth,  which  seemed  to  accord  particularly 
well  with  him. 

The  dance  was  about  to  commence,  and  he  had 
scarcely  more  than  time  to  ask  for  a  promenade  with 
her  after  the  quadrille,  Avhich  she  promised, 

When  Dr.  Leigh  returned  to  claim  Aliena  for  the 
promenade  she  almost  shrank  from  complying  with  her 
engagement,  and  she  scarcely  more  than  touched  his 
arm  with  her  gloved  hand  as  they  moved  out  upon  the 
colonnade. 

While  Dr.  Leigh  had  seen  Aliena  in  the  garish  light, 
brilliant  in  beauty,  moving  with  exquisite  grace  in  the 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  197 

mazes  of  the  dance,  she  had  seemed  to  him  a  thing 
apart.  He  could  scarcel}'  realize  that  she  was  the  same 
gentle  girl,  who,  in  mourning  garb,  had  ministered  with 
loving  grace  by  the  bedside  of  a  sick  mother.  Or  who 
had  sat  in  quiet,  dreamy  happiness  beside  him  upon  the 
Point  of  Rocks,  drinking  in  the  beauty  of  the  lovely 
view  it  commanded  ;  permeated  as  it  were  with  the 
sense  of  the  beautiful.  One  imbued  with  that  rare 
and  inexplicable  charm  of  sensitive,  delicate,  silent  sym- 
pathy.' These  memories  scarcely  seemed  consonant  with 
her  present  dazzling  beauty,  her  gayety,  and  her  bril- 
liant artificial  surroundings. 

But  getting  away  from  the  crowd,  the  glitter  and 
glare,  comparatively  alone  with  Aliena,  in  the  subdued 
light,  tlie  intiuence  of  her  presence  reasserted  itself. 
Taking  her  hand  as  it  lay  lightly  upon  his  arm  he  drew 
it  farther,  feeling  an  almost  irresistible  desire  to  retain 
the  soft  hand  in  his  own,  as  he  realized  the  exquisite 
loveliness  of  the  girl,  draped  in  that  soft  cloud  of  lace, 
shimmering  with  satin  and  pearls,  and  fragrant  with 
dewy  lilies.  He  remembered  the  time  when  he  had 
carried  her  in  his  arms,  with  a  longing  once  more  to  fold 
her  to  his  heart. 

"  I  had  so  associated  you  with  the  sort  of  nun's  garb, 
Avith  the  tender  offices  of  the  sick  room,  and  with  the 
dreamy  happiness  of  the  solitary  haunts  of  nature  ; 
that  this  brilliant  transformation  almost  bewildered  me 
at  first.  I  am  only  beginning  to  realize  that  3^ou  are 
yourself.  And  that  you  still  carry  the  same  tender, 
womanly  nature  with  you,  transfigured  as  you  are,"  said 
Dr.  Leigh. 

"  It  seems  almost  as  hard  for  me  to  realize  that  I  am 
myself  to-night.  Suppose  we  consider  that  we  have 
suffered  a  metempsychosis  and  start  anew,"  said  Aliena, 
impelled  by  the  same  reckless  spirit  which  possessed  her 
this  evening. 

Dr.  Leigh's  countenance  and  tone  changed  instantly, 
as  this  reply  jarred  harshly  upon  him.     ''  I  do  not  esteem 


198  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T, 

the  memories  of  the  past  so  lightly  myself  as  willingly 
to  surrender  them  for  whatever  there  may  be  in  the 
blank  future  before  me,"  he  replied. 

"  You  implied  that  you  did  not  like  me  so  well,  as  I 
am  at  present,"  said  Aliena,  still  strangely  jangled  out 
of  tune. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  what  I  said  could  justly  be  so 
construed.  Though,  if  you  make  it  so,  I  will  not  deny 
that  at  present,  at  least,  there  seems  an  imperceptible, 
subtile  something  lacking,  which  permeated  you  at 
Lookout,  as  the  fragrance  of  the  lilies  you  wear  does 
the  air  we  breathe." 

"You  are  truthful,  at  least,  if  less  complimentary 
than — "  Aliena,  glancing  into  Dr.  Leigh's  eyes,  broke 
down  in  this  reply,  so  unlike  herself. 

"  You  are  looking  more  brilliantly  beautiful  to-night 
than  I  ever  saw  you,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  looking  sadly  at 
her. 

The  delicate  pink  suffused  Aliena's  face  and  Avhite 
throat,  at  this  response,  which  she  felt  that  she  had 
brought  upon  herself,  and  she  said,  "  I  am  sorry  to  have 
forced  yon  to  do  violence  to  your  feelings  in  a  compli- 
ment extorted  by  my  foolish  remark." 

"  I  assure  3^ou  that  no  remark,  even  from  you,  could 
have  extorted  anything  but  the  truth  from  me,"  said  Dr. 
Leigh  somewhat  haughtily.  "  I  still  claim  that  my  re- 
mark is  not  inconsistent  with  the  fact,  that  there  may 
be  a  rarer  and  more  subtile  charm,  somewhat  inconsonant 
with  brilliancy,  that  does  not  at  all  times  accompany 
even  the  most  dazzling  beauty.  It  is  dependent  possibly 
upon  inexplicable  psychological  conditions  which  are 
beyond  the  power  of  the  most  beautiful  to  command." 

"I  don't  know  what  I  lay  claim  to  to-night — or 
whether  I  have  a  soul  at  all,"  said  Aliena,  in  a  tone  of 
weariness,  not  only  induced  by  this  conversation,  but 
the  consequence  of  her  general  state  of  mind. 

Dr.  Leigh,  annoyed  by  Aliena's  apparent  misconcep- 
tion of  what  he  had  said,  as  well  as  at  her  manner,  which 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  199 

seemed  abruptly  to  dismiss  the  subject  of  their  conver- 
sation, was  unwilling  again  to  allude  to  it. 

Aliena  felt  instantly  and  keenly  a  sense  of  wrong, 
but  the  evil  genius  which  seemed  to  rule  her  this  even- 
ing prevented  her  giving  token  of  this  feeling.  And 
the  conversation  drifted  for  the  few  moments  before 
she  was  claimed  for  the  next  dance  into  the  formal  dis- 
cussion of  commonplace  topics. 

Aliena  appeared  even  more  recklessly  gay  during  the 
remainder  of  the  evening.  Major  Baron  seemed  imbued 
with  the  same  spirit  as  he  whirled  past  Aliena  in  the 
waltz.  And  almost  to  her  own  amazement  she  found 
herself  whirling  in  a' waltz  with  Colonel  Massey,  into 
which  she  seemed  to  enter  with  a  sort  of  wild  delight  as 
well  as  Avith  exquisite  grace,  in  which  she  was  well  sus- 
tained by  her  expert  partner.  As  she  moved  around 
the  room  she  caught  Dr.  Leigh's  intense  eyes  fixed  upon 
her  with  a  pained  look  of  wonder  and  astonishment. 

Aliena  seemed,  in  fact,  to  enter  with  zest  into  a  flirta- 
tion with  Colonel  Massey,  into  wdiich  he  would  have 
been  recreant  to  himself  if  he  had  not  launched  with 
delighted  enthusiasm.  When  Major  Baron  sought 
Aliena  to  escort  her  to  the  supper  table,  Colonel  Massey 
joined  them,  plying  her  with  the  choicest  viands  from 
tables  covered  with  every  delicacy,  glittering  with 
silver,  glass  and  porcelain  of  rarest  designs ;  and  ex- 
quisitely adorned  with  fruits  and  flowers. 

Despite  the  exhilaration  of  the  evening  Aliena  was 
glad  when  Professor  and  Mrs.  Layton  sought  her  to 
know  if  she  were  ready  to  leave.  Late  as  it  was.  Dr. 
Leigh,  who  had  not  approached  Aliena  again  during 
the  evening,  had  been  held  here  by  some  spell.  He  re- 
sponded formally  to  her  bow  as  she  passed  him  going 
out. 

As  Aliena  was  standing  leaning  upon  Major  Baron's 
arm,  waiting  while  Mrs.  Layton  entered  the  carriage, 
she  started  nervously,  as  almost  at  her  side  she  caught 
sight  of  a  pair  of  glittering  eyes,  and  a  glowering  face, 


200  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

scowling  upon  Major  Baron  and  herself  from  behind 
some  shrubbery.  She  felt  Major  Baron  start  at  the  same 
moment,  pressing  her  arm  to  his  side  until  the  emerald 
serpent  upon  it  left  its  impress  on  the  soft  white  flesh. 

He  instinctivel}^  put  his  other  hand  upon  his  pistol, 
without  which  he  had  never  gone  since  overhearing  the 
conversation  between  Varja  and  Zara  that  night  in  the 
shop.  The  scowling  face  disappeared  almost  instantly 
behind  the  shrubbery,  wdiicli  had  served  to  obscure  his 
person,  but  not  before  Aliena  had  recognized  it  as  the 
same  that  had  peered  into  her  window. 

Withdrawing  her  bruised  arm,  Aliena  said  in  a 
startled  whisper,  '*Did  you  see  that  face  again?" 

"  What  face  ?  "  he  asked,  glancing  around  in  spite  of 
himself,  his  face  still  livid  in  the  light  of  the  carriage 
lamps. 

"  I  thought  you  saw  it.  The  same  that  peered  into 
our  parlor  the  morning  wdien  we  were  singing." 

Major  Baron  assisting  Aliena  into  the  carriage  made 
no  reply,  glancing  around  again,  nervously,  however, 
as  he  did  so. 

Aliena  felt  assured  that  Major  Baron  had  seen  the 
man,  his  apprehension  was  too  clearl}^  depicted  in  his 
face.  And  she  could  not  but  feel  a  flash  of  contempt 
as  she  looked  at  his  white,  terror-stricken  face. 

But  now  away  from  the  whirl,  the  glitter  and  the 
glare  of  the  ball-room  ;  in  the  dim  star-light  made  darker 
by  the  little  circle  of  flickering  yellow  light  which  the 
carriage  lamps  afforded ;  she  felt  a  humiliating  reaction 
from  the  reckless  spirit  that  had  possessed  her  during 
the  evening,  from  which  she  could  scarcely  arouse  her- 
self sufliciently  to  blame  any  one  but  herself. 

"  You  certainly  made  a  brilliant  debut  to-night.  Miss 
Graeme,"  said  Professor  Layton,  "  you  were  decidedly 
the  belle  of  the  evening." 

"I  always  had  an  idea  that  belles  must  feel  very 
triumphant  and  happy,"  Aliena  responded  in  a  de- 
pressed tone. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  201 

"Success  is  presumed  ahvaj^s  to  bring  happiness. 
You  can  speak  experimentally  no  doubt,"  said  Pro- 
fessor Layton.  "  Preston  ^lassey  seemed  quite  to  have 
surrendered  to  your  charms,  to  say  nothing  of  your 
other  conquests." 

"  The  ball-room  is  the  mimic  battle  field  of  woman, 
and  the  more  victims  she  can  count  the  happier  she  is 
presumed  to  be,"  Mrs.  Layton  interposed  with  a  tinge 
of  sarcasm  in  her  voice. 

"I  cannot  lay  claim  to  the  victor's  wreath  then," 
said  Aliena.  And  the  party  lapsed  into  silence  for  the 
few  moments  before  the  carriage  reached  its  destination. 

"  You  need  not  wait.  I  will  walk  to  the  hotel,"  said 
i\Iajor  Baron  to  Professor  Layton,  as  he  assisted  Aliena 
from  the  carriage.  And  saying  good-night  they  drove 
off. 

Major  Baron  left  alone  with  Aliena  had  no  desire  to 
renew  the  discussion  of  the  evening,  or  in  reality  of 
anything  else.  His  thoughts  were  too  much  absorbed 
now  in  apprehension  as  to  Varja,  whose  haunting  pres- 
ence had  left  him  in  a  state  of  dejection,  out  of  which 
nothing  could  arouse  him.  Fearing  that  Aliena  might 
again  question  him  in  reference  to  Varja,  or  that  the 
man  might  again  appear,  Major  Baron  said  good-night 
abruptly,  and  left. 

Standing  before  her  mirror,  loosening  her  shining 
hair  and  letting  it  fall  in  rippling  profusion  over  her 
beautiful  white  shoulders  and  arms,  Aliena  thought 
with  a  pang,  as  she  saw  the  sad  face  reflected  there, 
that  the  human  soul  that  Dr.  Leigh  had  missed  to- 
night, which  for  the  time  seemed  to  have  deserted  her, 
had  come  back  sorrowfully  and  in  penitence  now. 

Catching  the  reflection  of  the  emerald  serpent  in  the 
mirror,  with  its  glittering  diamond  eyes,  her  mind  re- 
verted with  shuddering  horror  to  the  glittering  eyes  of 
Yarja  as  he  scowled  from  behind  the  shrubbery  upon 
them  with  an  undefined,  but  fixed  fear  and  wonder  as 
to  why  he  should  haunt  her  with  that  look  of  hatred 


202  THE  FEET  OF  CLAY. 

and  malice.  The  bracelet  slipping  on  her  arm  as  she 
raised  it,  she  saw,  with  a  vague  horror,  upon  the  white 
arm  another  coiling  serpent,  defined  in  purple  upon  the 
bruised  flesh. 

A  shuddering  repulsion  irrepressibly  possessed  her  at 
this  sight,  as  with  it  she  connected  in  memory  the  livid 
look  of  terror  depicted  in  Major  Baron's  face  at  sight 
of  that  fierce  sinister  face  which  continuously  haunted 
them. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

"  Present  fears 
Are  less  than  horrible  imaginings. 
Whose  horrid  image  doth  unfix  my  hair, 
And  make  my  seated  heart  knock  at  my  ribs." 

Shakspeare  :  Macbeth. 

Aliena  was  listless  and  out  of  spirits  the  day  after  the 
party.  She  flitted  restlessly  about,  unable  to  occupy 
herself  or  to  fix  her  thoughts  upon  anything.  Colonel 
Masse}^  called  in  the  afternoon.  Her  sense  of  wrong  in 
her  course  toward  him  at  the  party  made  her  at  first 
somewhat  shy  and  constrained  in  her  manner.  But 
his  gay,  exuberant  spirits  made  it  impossible  for  her  to 
keep  up  this  reserve;  and  she  found  herself  growing 
cheerful  in  spite  of  herself  in  forge tfuln ess  of  all  she 
had  to  trouble  her. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  Colonel  Massey  proposed  a 
stroll.  As  they  started  out  he  said,  "A  walk  in  a 
cemetery  is  not  very  inspiriting,  but  that  by  the  river 
is  about  the  most  attractive  we  have.  Suppose  we  q'o 
there?" 

Aliena,  being  indifferent,  they  took  the  route  sug- 
gested. Entering  the  cemetery  the}'  strolled  on,  taking 
the  right  hand  overshadowed  pathway  which  led  by  the 
fern-fringed   brook,  leaping   and  glimmering  on  to  its 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  203 

junction  with  the  Occonee.  Strolling  leisurely  along, 
they  came  at  length  to  the  gnarled  trees  and  tangled 
vines  upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  wild  flowers 
and  ferns  especially  abounded. 

Aliena,  leaving  the  path,  had  strayed  off  a  little  in 
advance  of  Colonel  ^Nlassey,  and  w^as  gathering  the 
crimson  digitalis,  growing  in  profusion  here,  when  she 
discovered  a  singularly  beautiful  flower,  one  she  had 
never  seen  before,  growing  in  the  very  water's  edge. 
Its  leaves  resembled  the  amaryllis,  but  the  flower  stalk 
spreading  out  and  bleaching  white  toAvard  the  top,  de- 
veh)ped  into  an  exquisite  flower,  pyramidal  in  shape, 
eight  or  ten  inches  in  length,  and  half  as  wide  at  the 
base  of  the  flower,  which  looked  like  exquisitely  carved 
ivory  or  frost  Avork. 

She  was  stooping,  gatheiing  the  blooms  of  the  strange 
plant,  Avhen  her  attention  was  attracted  by  the  sound 
of  a  voice  she  well  knew,  saying  in  an  earnest,  sup- 
pressed tone, 

"  Zara,  tell  your  father  it  shall  be  as  soon  as — "  And, 
the  speaker  and  his  companion  moving  on,  she  could 
distinguish  no  other  words. 

The  couple  had  almost  passed  when  she  arose  from 
her  stooping  posture,  but  she  recognized  the  form,  as 
she  had  the  voice  of  Major  Baron,  and  Avith  him  saAv 
the  girl  Avhose  beauty  had  so  attracted  her  upon  the 
cars.  Both  Avere  evidently  so  engrossed  in  the  conver- 
sation as  not  to  have  seen  her,  even  if  that  had  been  pos- 
sible. Aliena's  heart  seemed  to  stop  beating,  Avith  the 
vague  pain  Avliich  oppressed 'her  as  it  flashed  upon  her 
that  this  might  furnish  a  cIcav  to  the  haunting  of  the 
father's  sinister  face. 

Colonel  Massey  rejoined  Aliena,  after  Major  Baron 
and  Zara  had  passed  on. 

"  Look  I  see  Avhat  I  have  gotten  for  you.  Here  are 
some  exquisite  ferns.  You  ought  to  prize  them.  I 
came  near  taking  an  involuntary  plunge  into  the  river 


204  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

getting  them  for  you.  Here  is  some  walking  fern 
which  is  very  rare." 

"  Thank  }■  ou/'  said  Aliena,  abstractedly. 

"  What  is  that  beautiful  white  flower  you  have  ?  I 
never  saw  one  like  it.  It  looks  like  fairy  frost  work; 
one  of  their  ivory  temples,  perhaps,"  said  Colonel 
Massey. 

"Nor  I,"  said  Aliena  absently,  her  mind  still  absorbed 
in  thought  of  Major  Baron  and  his  words  to  the  beauti- 
ful girl.  "  Tell  3"our  father  it  shall  be  as  soon  as — " 
"  Tell  that  horrible  man — and  it  shall  be  as  soon  as 
what  ?  "  her  mind  went  over  and  over  in  efforts  to 
solve  the  mystery  of  this  speech,  as  well  as  that  of 
Major  Baron's  appearance  with  the  girl  in  this  secluded 
spot. 

"  Who  was  that  beautiful  girl  with  Major  Baron  ?  " 
she  asked  Colonel  Massey,  despite  her  instinctive  shrink- 
ing from  this  subject. 

"  When  was  she  with  him  ?  "  he  asked,  evidently  be- 
wildered by  her  question. 

"  As  he  passed  just  now." 

"  I  did  not  see  him.  He  must  have  passed  as  I  was 
gathering  these  ferns.  Is  that  the  reason  you  seemed 
so  indifferent  to  my  offering,  after  all  the  perils  I  en- 
countered in  your  behalf?  "  said  Colonel  Massey.  Ali- 
ena making  no  reply,  he  continued,  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter with  you  ?  Is  it  that  beautiful  girl  ?  or  is  it  these 
gloomy  surroundings  that  seemed  to  have  depressed 
you  so  suddenly  ?  " 

"  I  must  be  under  a  ban.  Last  night  I  was  too  gay, 
this  evening  I  am  too  sad,"  she  replied. 

"  I  thought  you  were  delightful  last  night,  and  I  was 
not  alone  in  that  opinion,  it  seems,  judging  from  the 
throng  that  surrounded  you." 

Aliena,  who  was  in  no  mood  for  badinage,  made  no 
reply,  and  at  her  suggestion  they  retraced  their  steps. 

She  occupied  herself  after  Colonel  Massey  had  left 
her  at  their  cloistered  rooms,  in  arrano;inoj  the  flowers 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  205 

and  ferns,  placing  tliem  with  the  "fairy  temple"  under 
her  father's  portrait.  Then  seating  herself  at  the  piano 
lier  fingers  wandered  softly  over  the  kej^s  into  a  noc- 
turne, and  from  that  into  one  of  the  dreamy  German 
studies  of  which  she  was  so  fond,  full  of  vague,  inarticu- 
late pain  and  heart-longing;  but  disturbed  by  the  bring- 
ing in  of  a  light,  and  remembering  that  her  mother  was 
alone,  she  sought  her. 

Mrs.  Graeme  was  reclining  upon  a  lounge,  looking,  as 
Aliena's  conscience-smitten  heart  suggested,  more  worn 
and  pale  than  usual.  Seating  herself  by  her  mother's 
side,  she  took  the  listless  hand  in  hers,  and,  remember- 
ing that  the  day  after  to-*norrow  would  be  the  anniver- 
sary of  her  father's  death,  she  tried  to  converse  cheer- 
fully, on  her  mother's  account,  for  the  remainder  of  the 
evening,  despite  the  constantly  recurring  harrowing 
thoughts  which  tormented  her. 

The  next  morning,  Aliena,  in  accordance  with  her 
mother's  request,  sacrificed  her  own  feelings  by  going 
to  see  Mrs.  Bledsoe  and  Mrs.  Skinker,  who  had  sent 
cards  announcing  their  arrival,  to  Mrs.  Graeme,  who 
sympathized  deeply  with  them  in  their  grief  and  loneli- 
ness here  amongst  strangers. 

Mrs.  Bledsoe  and  her  daughter  were  even  more  than 
usually  demonstrative  in  their  apparent  delight  at  see- 
ing Aliena,  who  submitted  with  what  grace  she  could 
command,  to  the  feline  caresses  of  the  old  lady.  Mrs. 
Bledsoe  was  looking  more  saintly,  if  possible,  than  ever, 
in  her  white  cap,  over  her  white  hair.  Her  pale  steel- 
blue  eye,  as  usual,  seeking  the  obstructing  ceiling  at  in- 
tervals with  a  subdued  look  of  resigned  piety.  Mrs. 
Skinker  was  seemingly  in  a  remarkably  amiable  state 
of  mind,  scarcely  snapping  her  eyes  once  during  the 
visit. 

Aliena,  making  her  visit  short,  was  leaving  the  hotel, 
when  she  met  Dr.  Leigh  entering.  Her  color  deepened 
as  he  approached.  She  held  out  her  hand  to  him  in 
salutation.     He  touched  it  formally,  and  joming  her^ 


206  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

walked  across  the  street,  inquiring  in  regard  to  her 
mother.  He  opened  the  Campus  gate,  held  it  for  her  to 
enter,  and,  raising  his  hat,  bowed  and  returned  to  the 
hotel. 

Aliena  found  during  her  absence  that  Major  Baron 
had  called;  she  had  thus  failed  to  see  him,  and,  if  possi- 
ble, to  have  this  tormenting  mystery  solved. 

She  had  also  missed  seeing  Colonel  Massey,  who  had 
come  to  say  good-bye,  he  having  been  unexpectedly 
recalled  to  the  army. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

"  Glared  lightnings  and  shot  pernicious  fire — 
Drove  them  before  him,  thunder-struck,  pursu'd 
With  terrors  and  with  furies  to  the  bounds, 
And  crystal  -walls — 

headlong  themselves  they  threw 
Down  from  the  verge  of  heaven." 

Milton  :  Paeadise  Lost. 

The  anniversary  of  Colonel  Graeme's  death  had  ccme, 
with  all  its  melancholy  and  depressing  influences  to 
Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena.  It  was  a  day  sufficiently  de- 
pressing from  that  fact,  but  nature,  as  though  to  add  its 
gloom,  seemed  to  have  made  the  clay  itself  a  trying  one. 
It  was  dull,  oppressive  and  sultry,  one  rarely  felt  here, 
where  the  altitude  and  mountain  air  tempered  the  heat. 
The  wilted  leaves  hung  drooping  on  the  trees,  the  flow- 
ers bent  their  heads.  The  grasshoppers  and  crickets 
made  a  continuous  droning  sound,  and  the  tree  frogs 
cried  aloud.  Tiny  insects  floated  in  murky  circles  in 
the  stagnant  air.  The  birds  uttered  spiritless  chirps  as 
they  moved  listlessly  from  tree  to  tree.  Aliena  devoted 
herself  with  more  than  usual  tenderness  to  her  mother 
during  the  day,  but,  depressed  by  its  memories,  and  by 
the  stagnant  lull  around  her,  in  the  afternoon  she  sought 
consolation  in  the  chapel  services. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  207 

.It  seemed  to  her  that  the  music  was  unusually  touch- 
ing and  ])]aintive  as  it  swelled  in  the  dim,  vaulted 
arches.  The  words  dwelt  upon  were  full  of  tenderness 
and  pathos ;  words  to  which  her  mind  reverted  after- 
wards in  comforting  thought. 

"  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou 
not  known  me,  Philip  ?  "  God-man,  mysteriously  blended. 
As  God,  stooping  to  a  personification,  through  which 
the  finite  mind  might  grasp  the  Infinite.  The  exalta- 
tion of  humanity  in  that  blending.  The  infinite  God- 
love  in  the  sacrifice,  the  tenderness  of  the  rebuke  in 
face  of  the  great  atonement  about  to  be  consummated. 
"And  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip?"  Known 
Him  in  faith — by  divine  compassion  and  condescension, 
as  in  profoundest  sympathy  with  humanity.  In  human 
form,  tempted  as  we  are,  and  yet  without  sin.  Human, 
yet  so  far  beyond  and  above  humanity  as  to  be  possible 
only  to  Divinity.  And  again  the  words  were  reiterated 
in  tones  of  profoundly  moving  pathos,  which  vibrated  in 
her  heart  with  something  of  the  feeling  that  must  have 
moved  Philip,  as  they  were  wrung  from  the  heart  of 
the  God-man.  ''  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you, 
and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip  ?  " 

Leaving  the  chapel,  still  influenced  by  the  physical 
depression  around  her,  and  by  the  memories  of  the  day, 
Aliena  strolled  on.  Her  footsteps  naturally  turned 
toward  the  cemetery.  Entering  there,  followed  by 
Hugi,  who  had  joined  her  in  the  Campus,  she  wan- 
dered slowly  on  with  a  feeling  of  mental  and  physical 
depression,  in  unison  with  nature,  and  with  the 
memories  which  oppressed  her. 

Taking  the  pathway  that  wound  up  the  hill-side  in 
the  center  of  the  cemetery,  Aliena  sank  into  the  same 
seat  she  had  occupied  when  she  had  first  visited  this 
beautiful,  though  gloomy  spot.  Facing  her  was  the 
overshadowed  river  flowing  darkly  on  between  the 
hills,  to  which  the  sun  had  already  set.  The  still  sul- 
triness made  repose  desirable.     But,  though  physically 


208  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

motionless  sitting  there,  her  mind  was  busy  tormenting 
her  with  torturing  thought.  A  torture  to  which  her 
surroundings  seemed  to  give  intensity.  In  the  still  air, 
the  sound  of  the  falling  water  around  came  in  more 
distinct,  monotonous,  and  mournful  tones.  The  gur- 
gle, ripple,  splash  and  roar.  Now  and  then  the  croon- 
ing song  of  the  old  grave-digger,  at  work  upon  a  grave, 
mingled  with  the  minor  accompaniment  of  the  falling- 
water  with  strange  effect.  Ai3sorbed  in  thought  she 
sat  unmindful  of  the  growing  darkness,  when  suddenly 
a  woman's  shriek  startled  and  shocked  her  to  painful 
consciousness. 

Hugi,  who  had  been  lying  listless  at  her  feet,  sprang 
up,  pricking  his  ears  and  bounded  off  toward  the 
river.  Aliena  recalled  him  quickly,  and  alarmed  now, 
not  only  at  the  frightful  sound  in  this  lonely  spot,  but 
at  the  ominous  blackness  of  the  sk}^  she  hurriedly  rose 
and  turned  to  retrace  her  steps  homeward.  She  found 
that  the  clouds  Avhich  had  flecked  the  sky  had  gathered, 
and  thickened  rapidly.  These  now  grown  dense,  cu- 
mulus, and  bronze,  in  the  still,  stifling,  sulphurous  air, 
were  fast  closing  like  fierce  battling  hosts  above  her. 

Suddenly  a  blinding  blaze  of  lightning  and  an  almost 
simultaneous  crash  of  deafening  thunder  seemed  to 
signal  the  change,  and  great  pattering  rain-drops  urged 
her.  onward.  Crash  after  crash  of  near  thunder  and 
zig-zag  lightning  followed  with  sheets  of  rain,  which 
driven  before  the  wind,  came  dashing,  blinding,  into 
her  face.  The  dull  bronze  sky  and  the  unnatural 
darkness  made  the  lightning  more  fearfully  lurid  and 
vivid. 

Retarded  by  the  wind,  by  the  rain  dashing  in  her  face, 
and  by  the  weight  of  water  saturating  her  clinging  cloth- 
ing, Aliena  bent  her  head  to  the  storm,  and  labored  on. 
She  had  left  the  cemetery  behind  her  and  was  strug- 
gling against  the  wind  and  rain  when  she  came  nearly 
into  collision  with  some  one  moving  toward  her.  She 
raised  her  head  and  a  glad  smile  came  to  her  face,  in 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  209 

spite  of  her  terror,  with  a  sense  of  relief  and  protection 
at  seeing  Dr.  Leigh. 

He  turned,  took  her  hand,  drew  it  firmly  through  his 
arm,  and  walked  rapidly  on  with  her. 

"  What  could  have  brought  you  out  in  this  fearful 
storm  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  What  brought  you  here,  yourself?  "  she  gasped,  the 
wind  and  rain  almost  taking  away  her  breath.  And  an 
unusually  blinding  blaze  of  lightning  and  crash  of 
thunder  made  her  cling  to  his  arm  and  shrink  closer  to 
his  side. 

''  It  is  nothing  strange  for  me,  but  that  you  should 
be  out  at  such  a  time  ?  "  he  said,  looking  at  her  with  a 
curiously  mingled  expression. 

"  I  came  for  a  walk.  I  could  not  endure  the  house. 
I  was  thinking — and — and  the  storm  was  upon  me  be- 
fore I  knew  it,"  she  said,  hesitating. 

She  had  started  to  speak  of  the  fearful  shriek  Avhich 
had  startled  her  into  consciousness  of  the  approaching 
storm.  But  for  some  vague  reason  she  hesitated,  and 
suppressing  that  fact,  she  continued,  "  and  the  wind  and 
the  rain  made  it  almost  impossible  for  me  to  get  on. 
But  it  is  not  so  hard  now,"  she  said,  looking  gratefully 
and  restfully  into  his  face.  And  they  moved  silently  on 
battling  against  the  fierceness  of  the  storm  to  the 
University,  where  Dr.  Leigh  left  her. 

14 


210  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

"  Come  thick  night, 
And  pall  thee  in  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell ! 
That  my  keen  knife  see  not  the  -svounds  it  makes." 

Shakspeare  :  Macbeth. 

The  evening  of  the  storm,  which  had  found  Aliena  at 
the  cemetery,  Major  Baron  had,  according  to  agreement, 
again  met  Zara  at  their  appointed  trysting  phice  by  the 
river,  to  make  final  arrangement  for  their  marriage,  as 
he  had  promised. 

Having  become  more  nervously  alive  to  intrusion 
since  the  re-appearance  of  Varja,  the  night  of  the  party — 
seeing  a  small  boat  tied  at  the  river  bank.  Major  Baron 
proposed  to  Zara  that  they  should  cross  to  the  opposite 
and  more  secluded  side  of  the  river.  They  entered  the 
boat  and  were  in  the  act  of  crossing  the  river  as  Varja, 
who,  dogging  their  footsteps,  had  eluded  observation  by 
moving  stealthily  from  tomb  to  tomb,  or  tree  to  tree, 
came  once  more  to  where  he  could  command  a  view  of 
them. 

Peering  from  behind  a  sunken  tombstone  under  the 
dense  growth  of  gnarled  trees  upon  the  river  bank,  he 
gnashed  his  teeth  in  impotent  rage.  Hissing  horrible 
oaths  in  a  suppressed  tone  as  he  saw  that  for  the  time 
they  had  eluded  him. 

Varja  had  never  had  real  hope  of  justice  to  his  daugh- 
ter. The  little  hope  he  might  have  had,  had  died  out  after 
what  he  had  seen  and  heard  when  Major  Baron  was 
with  Aliena.  He  had  therefore  determined  this  even- 
ing to  learn  the  truth  for  himself,  and,  if  convinced  that 
Major  Baron  was  playing  false  with  Zara,  to  allow 
nothing  longer  to  thwart  his  vengeance. 

This  was  not  the  first  time  that  Varja  had  dogged 
their  footsteps,  as  the  sound  of  the  snapping  twig  by 
the  mausoleum  had  almost  disclosed.  Nor  were  the  oc- 
casions when  seen  the  only  ones  when  he  had  kept  vigi- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  211 

lant  watch  upon  Major  Baron  and  Aliena,  or  when  shut 
out  from  sight,  that  his  keenly  listening  ears  had  been 
applied  for  information.  Having  thus  become  aware  of 
Major  Baron's  duplicity,  Zara  no  longer  had  the  power 
to  restrain  him  from  vengeance  if  this  evening's  inter- 
view proved  treacherous. 

Crouching,  watching  their  receding  forms  as  they 
moved  across  the  river,  more  than  ever  he  longed  for 
vengeance.  His  eyes  glittered  like  a  serpent's  as  he 
writhed  in  his  impotent  rage,  grinding  his  teeth  and 
hissing  horrible  oaths. 

He  drew  his  pistol,  examijied,  and  cocked  it.  He 
pointed  and  sighted  as  they  rowed  on.  He  muttered 
renewed  imprecations,  as  he  saw  the  danger  to  which 
Zara  would  be  exposed  should  he  fire  and  miss  the 
mark. 

Replacing  the  pistol,  he  took  from  his  bosom  a  dag- 
ger. He  unsheathed  it  and  drew  its  sharp  edge  across 
his  hand,  testing  its  keen  slender  point  until  the  flow  of 
blood  marked  its  edge. 

He  waited,  crouching,  it  seemed  an  interminable  time, 
the  deadly  purpose  growing  stronger  with  time. 

Zara  and  Major  Baron,  after  what  seemed  an  eternity 
to  Varja,  came  down  the  precipitous,  rocky  bank  of  the 
opposite  shore  to  the  Avater's  edge,  entered  the  boat, 
and  started  across.  Varja  uttered  a  low,  chuckling,  de- 
moniac laugh,  as  he  saw  them  approach.  The  devil's 
heart  growing  within  him,  his  eyes  flamed  with  the 
intense  delight  of  hoped  for  vengeance. 

Major  Baron  rowed  on  across,  landed,  and  assisted 
Zara  from  the  boat.  Stepping  ashore  himself,  as  Zara 
ascended  the  bank,  he  stooped,  and  taking  up  the  chain 
by  which  the  boat  had  been  secured,  made  it  fast  to  the 
shore. 

Varja,  assassin  as  he  was,  yet  not  a  beast  of  prey, 
awaited  to  face  his  enem3^  his  daughter's  perjured  be- 
trayer. With  the  dagger  clutched  in  his  hand  he  stood 
concealed,  with   glittering  eyes,  like  a  tiger  readv  to 


212  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

spring  from  his  lair,  until  Major  Baron  turned.  Then, 
with  a  hissing  oath  of  vengeance,  he  sprang  forward, 
making  a  lunge  at  the  heart  of  the  traitor. 

The  muscular  strength  of  Major  Baron  would  seem  to 
have  had  little  chance  to  avail  against  the  ferocity  of 
this  sudden,  terrible  onslaught  of  the  lithe,  infuriated 
foreigner.     But  fear  had  made  him  alert. 

Throwing  up  his  arm  with  a  sudden,  desperate  force, 
at  the  lunge  of  the  dagger,  the  blow  of  the  assassin, 
turned  aside,  lost  its  aim.  Striking  through  the  thick 
uniform,  against  the  gold  cigar-case  in  Major  Baron's 
breast  pocket,  it  glanced  off,  with  a  flesh  wound. 

Grappling  now  in  life  or  death  struggle,  the  skill  and 
and  muscle  of  Major  Baron  with  his  greater  coolness 
gave  him  vantage.  Writhing  against  the  restraining 
grip,  Varja's  eyes  had  a  demoniac  glare  as  they  strug- 
gled on. 

With  the  strength  of  desperation.  Major  Baron  at 
length  wrenched  the  dagger  from  the  furious  man,  and 
made  a  lunge  at  Varja.  The  blood  followed  the  fatal 
stroke,  spouting  at  each  pulsation,  covering  his  antago- 
nist with  the  crimson  gore. 

"  Damn  him  to ,"  Varja  gurgled  out  as  he  drop- 
ped to  the  ground  struck  to  the  heart.  The  hue  of 
death  settling  over  his  face,  his  eyes  glazing,  his  teeth 
clenched. 

His  soul  had  gone  to  meet  his  God. 

So  noiseless  and  sudden  had  been  the  encounter  that 
Zara,  paralyzed  by  horror,  had  scarcely  realized  what 
was  being  done  until  her  father  uttering  the  oath  fell 
to  the  ground,  the  life  blood  gushing  from  his  heart. 
Then,  uttering  a  wild  shriek  of  horror  and  grief,  she 
threw  herself  prostrate  upon  his  body. 

This  was  the  shriek  which  had  fallen  upon  Aliena's 
ears. 

Who  can  depict  the  agony  of  that  time  ?  When  cer- 
tain of  Varja's  death.  Major  Baron,  dragging  Zara  with 
him,  before   that   awful   storm  of  blinding  lightning, 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  213 

thunder,  and  driving  rain,  turned  his  back  upon  the 
man  he  had  shiin ;  leaving  him  lying  prone  upon  the 
river  bank,  stiffening  and  growing  cold,  beaten  upon 
by  the  pitiless  storm.  And  in  stony  silence,  in  the 
black  darkness,  souglit  the  home  of  the  woman  he  had 
wronged,  and  of  the  father  he  had  murdered. 

Entering  through  the  side  door  of  the  dreary  house, 
the  spirit  of  the  dead  man  seemed  already  to  haunt  his 
desolate  home. 

Zara,  by  a  merciful  Providence,  stony  with  grief,  could 
not  realize  her  treble  sorrow^  her  father  dead,  her 
promised  husband  his  murderer,  herself  the  cause. 

Haunted  by  his  fearful  sense  of  guilt,  iMajor  Baron 
dared  not  remain.  It  was  all  important,  as  he  felt  now, 
that  he  should  not  implicate  himself.  He  must  leave 
her.  Leave  her  alone  with  all  this  blackness  of  de- 
spair. 

Lighting  the  candle  to  do  away  with  the  horror  of 
darkness,  he  tried  to  explain  to  Zara,  cautioning  her 
again  and  again  to  divulge  nothing  in  regard  to  her 
father's  death.  In  the  stunned  condition  to  which  hor- 
ror and  grief  had  brought  her,  he  could  get  no  assur- 
ance on  her  part. 

But,  not  daring  to  stay  longer,  or  to  send  comfort 
'  in  the  presence  of  any  one  else,  lest  Varja's  absence 
and  Zara's  grief  should  divulge  the  fearful  secret,  he 
turned  his  back  upon  her.     Leaving  her  alone. 

Alone  with  all  this  weight  of  grief  to  bear,  where 
everything  recalled  her  father,  who,  let  him  be  what  he 
might  to  the  world,  had  loved  her,  had  given  his  life 
to  avenge  her  wrongs.  His  dead  face,  his  fixed  star- 
ing eyes,  his  stiffening  form  haunted  her.  She  saw  him 
as  he  lay  prone  upon  the  river  bank. 

She  could  not  endure  it.  She  crept  fearfully  to  the 
door,  and  looked  out  into  the  darkness.  The  storm 
continued,  though  abated  in  force.  The  wind  drove 
the  rain  into  her  face,  and  put  out  the  light  beyond  her 
which  Major  Baron  had  lighted. 


214  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Shuddering,  yet  urged  by  her  yearning  love  for  her 
father,  she  moved  out  into  the  black  darkness  of  the 
deserted  street.  And  on — and  on,  as  if  pursued  by 
some  avenging  spirit,  she  took  her  way — back  toward 
the  cemetery — staggering  along  in  the  darkness,  the 
wind  and  the  rain. 

The  storm  ceased  somewhat  as  she  neared  the  ceme- 
tery. The  clouds,  breaking  apart,  like  guilty  phantoms 
seemed  to  fly  before  the  wind.  In  the  dim  light  of 
struggling  moonlight  and  shadow,  the  tall  white  columns 
assumed  ghostly  forms.  A  great  white  marble  cross 
seemed  to  stretch  out  its  arms — to  take  weird  form  and 
fly  toward  her  with  a  wild  shriek — as  an  owl,  startled  at 
her  coming  flew  up  and  off  with  a  screech. 

Going  on  into  the  shadows,  the  wind  shook  the  rain 
from  the  dripping  trees  in  showers  over  the  already 
drenched  form,  still  she  pressed  on.  On  into  the  dark- 
ness, the  eternal  shadows,  to  the  river  bank. 

The  flying  clouds,  drifting  from  across  the  pale  moon, 
left  it  shining  down  upon  the  white  upturned  face — the 
clenched  teeth — the  glazed  eyes — the  pool  of  blood  in 
which  her  father's  life  had  oozed  away. 

Throwing  herself  with  a  wild  shriek  upon  the  inani- 
mate form — God  gave  her  for  a  time  surcease  of  sorrow. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

**  A  pick-ax  and  a  spade,  a  spade 
For — and  a  shrouding  sheet  ; 
O !  a  pit  of  clay  for  to  be  made 
For  such  a  guest  is  meet." 

Shakspeare. 

In  the  early  morning  the  old  Scotch  grave-digger,  who 
had  been  stopped  by  tlie  storm  of  the  evening  before 
from  his  almost  completed  labor,  returning,  trudged  on 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  215 

with  spade,  and  pick,  and  bail  toward  the  lower  ground 
of  the  cemeter3\ 

Here  laying  aside  his  coat,  and  putting  his  brawny 
hands  upon  the  sides  of  the  grave  he  Avas  to  finish,  he 
let  his  gaunt  body  down  into  it  with  an  expertness  in- 
dicative of  long  practice  ;  and  went  to  work  vigorously 
bailing  out  the  water. 

After  the  storm  of  the  evening  before,  the  air  was 
alive  with  the  song,  chirp  and  twitter  of  birds;  the  buzz 
and  whir  of  insects;  and  fragrant  with  flowers  and 
with  the  spicy  odors  of  freshened  leaves.  Even  the 
moist  earth  yielded  a  fresh,   sweet  smell. 

The  exercise  quickening  the  circulation  of  the  old 
man's  blood,  and  the  ozone  vitalized  air  stimulating  him, 
he  whistled  cheerfully  at  his  work ;  or  trolled  a  bar  or 
two  of  some  old-time  ditty  which  he  had  sung  when  life 
was  young  with  him.  Having  finished  bailing  he  began 
to  dig,  throwing  out  the  moist  clay  spadeful  after  spade- 
ful, stopping  at  intervals  to  wipe  his  streaming  face  and 
brow  with  a  great,  red-flowered  handkerchief. 

He  was  startled  at  length  by  the  sound  of  a  faint 
moan  that  seemed  to  come  from  the  grave  he  was  dig- 
ging. Listening  attentively  he  caught  the  faint,  dismal 
sound  once  more.  Placing  his  ear  against  the  solid  earth, 
after  a  time  it  came  again  more  distinctly  than  ever. 
Unwilling  to  give  way  to  superstitious  fears,  the  old 
man  took  up  his  spade,  and  whistling  now  to  keep  his 
courage  up,  he  spaded  away  vigorously. 

Suddenly  a  voice  at  his  side  startled  him. 

"  Good-morning,  Mr.  McElroy,"  the  voice  said.  Noth- 
ing very  startling  certainl}^ ;  but  seeing  the  nervous 
movement  of  the  old  man,  Mr.  Rogers,  the  undertaker, 
continued,  "  You  must  have  a  bad  conscience  tliis 
morning,  Mr.  Mc,  that  you  should  start  so  at  the  sound 
of  a  Christian  voice.  How  are  you  getting  on  with  the 
grave  ?  " 

"  Oh  I  that 's  a'  right.  It  '11  be  ready  in  time,"  said 
the  grave-digger,  wiping  the  perspiration  from  his  face. 


216  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

and  leaning  on  his  sj^ade.  "  I  was  set  back  some  by 
the  storm  yestereen,  but  I  've  maistly  caught  up,  and 
I  'se  soon  be  done." 

"  I  was  afraid  the  storm  would  set  you  back,  and  I 
came  to  see  abcmt  it.  It  would  never  do  to  have  any- 
thing go  wrong  now.  The  girl  makes  a  lovely  corpse, 
just  a  neat  size.  And  the  coffin  is  a  beaut}^,  blockade 
or  no  blockade,  if  I  say  it  that  should  n't.  It 's  my 
opinion  it's  a  flying  in  the  face  of  Providence,  any  way, 
to  have  them  metal  coffins.  The  Lord  always  intended 
that  we  should  go  back  to  dust  sooner  or  later.  And 
there  is  no  use  in  rebelling  against  his  will.  This  is  all 
white,  inside  and  out,  with  silver  screws.  Fortunately 
I  had  some  of  tliat  white  satin  left  for  lining,  and  some 
white  lace  and  flowers.  Though  for  the  life  of  me  I 
can't  see  how  I  'm  to  get  up  anotlier  first-class  funeral 
Avithout  we  get  some  things  through  from  Wilming- 
ton. The  blockade  runners  come  in  piled  down  with 
guns  and  ammunition  and  the  likes  o'  that  for  kill- 
ing, but  how  they  can  expect  a  man  to  keep  on  burying 
and—" 

"  Do  3'ou  ken  what  that  girl  died  of?"  interrupted 
the  old  grave-digger  in  a  mysterious  tone,  hopeless  of 
a  stop  to  Mr.  Rogers'  talk. 

"  They  say  she  had  some  kind  of  fever.  As  I  was 
saying—" 

'^  I  wadna  like  to  cast  insinuations,"  interrupted  the 
old  Scotchman  again,  "but  I  hae  been  digging  graves 
now  amaist  forty-five  3^ears,  and  I  hae  na  heard  nae- 
thing  like  the  woeful  sounds  I  have  been  hearing  syne 
I  've  been  digging  this  grave.  I  heard  it  yestereen  for 
the  first  time  just  before  the  storm.  It  sounded  for  a' 
the  world  like  the  skirl  of  a  wraith.  Leastways  like  I 
wad  think  that  wad  sound.  Heck  I  there  it  is  again," 
the  old  man  said  in  an  awe-struck  tone,  with  a  startled 
look,  putting  his  ear  against  the  side  of  the  grave  in 
which  he  stood.  "  What  did  I  tell  you  ?  Dinna  ye 
hear 't?" 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  217 

"  I  think  I  did  hear  something,"  said  the  undertaker, 
speaking  lower,  his  eyes  dikiting  in  spite  of  himself. 

'^  Get  down  in  here,  and  I  ken  you  '11  hear  't.  It 's 
as  plain  as  cock  crowing." 

Mr.  Roger's  could  not  but  be  impressed  by  the 
earnestness  of  the  old  Scotchman,  and,  moving  to  the 
now  deepened  grave,  he  let  himself  down  into  it  with 
scarcely  less  expertness  than  the  grave-digger  himself. 
And  placing  his  ear  to  the  ground  he  said,  "  I  don't 
hear  a  sound." 

''  Hist  I  wait ! "  said  the  old  grave-digger  in  a  sup- 
pressed tone.  And  both  held  their  ears  to  the  side  of 
the  grave  listening  intently,  and  sure  enough  in  a  few 
moments  a  low  wailing  moan  was  heard. 

"  Heck  I "  dinna  you  hear  it  ?  What  do  you  think  o' 
that?"  the  old  man  asked  with  dilated  eyes,  the  other 
showing  scarcely  less  plainly  the  effect  of  the  sound 
upon  him. 

They  listened  again  for  some  moments  in  silence,  and 
again  they  heard  the  mysterious  sound.  Mr.  Rogers 
having  had  time  to  recupsrate  somewhat  from  his  first 
feeling  of  superstitious  awe,  now  suggested,  "It  does 
seem  strange,  but  it  may  be  from  some  natural  cause 
after  all.     Let 's  look  around  and  see." 

"  Well,  we  maun  look,  but  it 's  my  mind  we  '11  nae 
see  whar  that  sound  comes  frae  i'this  world,"  said  the 
old  grave-digger  shaking  his  head  dubiously. 

But  scrambling  out  of  the  grave  they  began  searching 
carefully  around.  Coming  at  length  beyond  the  grave, 
on  toward  the  denser  growth  near  the  river,  the  same 
sound  reached  their  ears  more  distinctly  than  ever. 
Here  they  stopped  and  listened,  and  the  sound  came 
again  after  a  time  from  toward  the  river.  They  moved 
on  now,  looking  nervously  around  as  they  went.  Sud- 
denly the  old  grave-digger  started  back  with  an  exclama- 
tion of  horror. 

"  My  God ! "  It  maun  be  the  foreigner  and  his  daugh- 
ter, Varja,  wha  kept  the  tobacco  shop  at  the  sign  of  the 


218  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

Indian  warrior.  Tliae  be  stane  dead,  both  o*  them, 
murdert,"  said  the  old  man,  aghast  at  the  sight. 

There  lay  the  murdered  man  and  his  daughter,  her 
head  upon  his  breast,  her  clothing  dripping  with  water 
and  dabbled  in  his  blood. 

They  would  have  believed  her  dead,  but  as  they 
came  nearer  she  uttered  one  of  those .  low,  wailing 
moans.  Her  eyes  were  closed,  the  long  black  lashes  lay 
upon  her  wan  cheeks,  her  loosened  black  hair  straggled 
in  silky,  waving  masses  over  the  murdered  man,  around 
whom  were  her  arms  in  loosened  clasp. 

The  old  man  stooped  pityingly  over  the  beautiful 
young  girl,  clinging  to  the  stiff  staring  corj)se,  and  tak- 
ing up  one  of  the  limp  hands,  as  cold  as  the  dead  man's 
upon  whose  breast  it  lay,  he  said  tenderl}^,  "Puir 
thing  !  Open  your  e'en  hiney,  here  's  an  auld  mon,  he  's 
rough  but  he  's  got  a  hairt.  It 's  damp  here,  hiney,  just 
open  your  e'en  and  let  me  help  you  up,"  but  no  re- 
sponse came. 

The  old  man  covered  the  small  cold  hand  with  his 
great  rough  one  trying  to  warm  it,  then  chafing  it  as 
gently  as  a  woman,  he  said,  "  Hiney,  it 's  naebody  but 
an  auld  grave-digger,  but  he  's  got  a  hairt.  Open  your 
e'en  just  a  minute,  hiney.  It 's  nae  use,"  he  said,  turn- 
ing to  Mr.  Rogers.  ''-She  's  past  my  power.  Gang  and 
get  something  to  take  them  up  in.  I  'se  stay  here  until 
y'er  maun  come  back." 

Mr.  Rogers  having  started  off  to  do  as  the  old  man 
had  suggested,  he  lifted  the  inanimate  form  of  the  girl 
in  his  arms,  as  he  might  have  done  a  child's,  and  carried 
her  wet,  and  dabbled  with  blood  as  she  was,  to  an  old 
flat,  sunken  tombstone.  Here  he  seated  himself,  still 
holding  her  in  his  arms,  and  moved,  back  and  forth,  as 
he  might  have  done  to  still  a  child.  When,  noAV  and 
then,  she  uttered  one  of  those  faint  moans,  the  old  man 
tried  again  and  again  to  arouse  her. 

"  Ye  hae  nae  neither  mither  nor  faither,  now  hiney,  but 
I  've  got  a  hairt,  I  've  got  a  hairt,"  and  the  big  tears  rolled 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  219 

down  the  old  man's  furrowed  face,  dropping  upon  the 
wan  form  lying  there.  But  no  sign  of  consciousness 
appeared. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

"  I  fled  but  he  pursued.     I  cried  out  Death ! 
Hell  treml)led  at  the  hideous  uame  aud  sigh'd 
From  all  her  caves  and  back  resounded,  Death ! " 

Milton  .  Paradise  Lost. 

Major  Baron,  leaving  Zara,  had  slunk  back,  in  the 
darkness,  dripping  with  rain,  blood-stained  from  the 
murdered  man,  to  his  room  in  the  hotel.  But  for  the 
wound,  where  the  deadly  dagger  had  been  aimed  at  his 
own  heart,  and  the  mutikited  cigar-case  which  had 
turned  aside  the  death  dealing  blow,  witnesses  of  the 
horrible  conflict,  he  might  have  believed  tlie  whole  fear- 
ful drama,  a  frightful  phantasm  of  his  disordered  brain. 

Passing  before  the  mirror,  he  started,  turning  paler 
if  possible.  He  did  not  recognize  in  the  wet,  care-worn, 
blood-stained,  conscience-smitten  image,  that  confronted 
him  there,  the  handsome,  well-cared-for,  self-complacent 
form  which  had  so  lately  greeted  his  vision. 

He  instinctively  changed  his  clothing  to  rid  himself 
of  the  torturing  evidences  of  his'  guilt,  and  seated  him- 
self, tormented  with  agonizing  fear  and  remorse.  In 
imagination  he  still  saw  the  clenched  teeth,  the  staring 
eyes,  the  stiifeni^ig  form  of  the  dead  man,  lying  beaten 
upon  by  the  storm,  at  the  river's  side.  He  felt  the 
warm  blood  spout  upon  him.  He  heard  the  muttered 
imprecation,  the  gurgle  of  the  dying  man,  the  wild 
V  shriek  of  horror  and  grief  of  the  daughter — the  forlorn 
girl  upon  whom  he  had  brought  all  this  weight  of  sor- 
row—w^hom  he  had  left  alone  with  her  grief,  her  horror 
and  her  remorse. 

He  thought,  too,  of  his  affianced  bride,  of  their  plighted 


220  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

troth,  of  his  exposure  to  the  world,  and  to  her.  Of  his 
punishment  by  the  law,  of  the  scorn  of  the  hooting  mul- 
titude, of  the  utter  hopelessness  of  S3^mpathy  from  liv- 
ing mortal,  which  his  double  crime  insured. 

Could  he  go  on  with  his  marriage  ?  Yet  how  could 
he  defer  it  without  committing  himself?  He  must  fly, 
he  could  not  face  the  horrors  that  menaced  him.  One 
only,  bare  thought  of  relief  came  to  his  mind.  There 
was  no  one  now  to  uphold  the  forlorn  girl — no  one  to 
compel  him  to  marry  her.  No  relenting  tenderness  made 
him  once  think  of  soiling  his  escutcheon  by  such  an 
alliance. 

A  sound  of  footsteps  in  the  hall  made  hira  tremble. 
The  sweat  oozed  in  great  clammy  drops  upon  his  brow. 
The  steps  passed  on. 

Could  he  endure  the  agony  of  this  night  ?  And  of 
to-morrow?  To-morrow,  which  might  bring  exposure 
and  shame.  And  now  that  Aliena  seemed  slipping 
away  from  him,  the  beauty  of  her  character  impressed 
him  as  it  had  never  done  before.  Its  transparent  purity, 
its  self-abnegation,  its  tenderness.  He  pictured  the 
sweet  worship  which  might  have  been  his — sanctifying 
to  him  a  home  in  which  his  hot  blood  might  have  calmed 
and  cooled,  under  the  purifying  influence  of  a  wife  like 
this,  into  fitness  for  such  an  Eden  of  repose. 

He  thought  of  the  m3'riad  shot  and  shell  he  had 
escaped.  And  for  what  ?  Then  he  might  at  least  have 
filled  a  "patriot's  honored  grave." 

He  rose  and  paced  the  floor.  He  strove  to  get  aAvay 
from  himself — his  agony — his  despair.  "  Which  way  I 
fly  is  hell — myself  am  hell."  He  dared  not  think.  His 
fear  and  his  remorse  had  made  a  coAvard  of  him. 

He  rang  for  Angus te.  Seating  himself  he  awaited 
with  his  back  to  the  door.  He  trembled  as  he  heard  his. 
servant's  footsteps  approaching. 

"  Auguste,  I  am  sick  to-night.  Go  and  get  me  some 
morphine,"  he  said  in  a  strange,  unnatural  voice,  as  the 
door  opened. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  221 

Auguste,  returning  with  the  opiate,  struck  by  some- 
thing unusual  in  his  master's  manner,  lingered  at  the 
door. 

"  What  are  you  waiting  for,"  said  Major  Baron  sharply, 
glancing  nervously  around. 

''  I  thought  maybe  you  'd  like  me  to  stay  with  you, 
master,  as  you  was  sick?"  said  Auguste,  humbly. 

"  Go  on,"  said  Major  Baron,  abruptly,  unwillfng  to 
risk  a  witness  to  his  agony,  much  as  he  longed  for  hu- 
man sympathy.  Major  Baron  locked  the  door  after 
Auguste,  opened  one  of  the  papers  of  morphine  and 
swallowed  the  narcotic.  Then  throwing  himself,  dressed 
as  he  was,  upon  the  bed  he  tossed  in  an  agony  of  mind 
which  the  opium  had,  if  possible,  intensified.  Here  he 
also  came  to  know  "  the  lineaments  of  those  awful  sis- 
ters— "  Our  Ladies  of  Sorrow.  ''  They  spoke  not.  Like 
God,  whose  servants  they  are,  they  utter  their  pleasure 
not  by  sounds  that  perish,  but  by  signs  in  heaven,  by 
changes  on  earth,  by  pulses  in  secret  rivers,  heraldries 
painted  on  darkness,  and  hieroglyphics  written  upon  the 
tablets  of  the  brain." 

"  The  third  sister,  who  is  also  the  youngest — !  Her 
kingdom  is  not  large,  or  else  no  flesh  should  live ;  but 
within  that  kingdom  all  power  is  hers.  Her  head,  tur- 
reted  like  that  of  Cybele,  rises  almost  beyond  the  reach 
of  sight.  She  droops  not ;  and  her  eyes,  rising  so  high, 
might  be  hidden  by  distance.  But,  being  what  they 
are,  they  cannot  be  hidden ;  through  the  treble  veil  of 
crape  which  she  wears,  the  fierce  light  of  a  blazing  mis- 
er}^  that  rests  not  for  matins  or  for  vespers,  for  noon  of 
day  or  noon  of  night,  for  ebbing  or  for  flowing  tide,  may 
be  read  fpm  the  very  ground — "  "  Madonna  moves 
with  uncertain  steps,  fast  or  slow,  but  still  with  tragic 
grace — Our  Lady  of  Sighs  creeps  timidly  and  stealthily. 
But  this  youngest  sister  moves  with  incalculable  motions, 
bounding  with  a  tiger's  leaps.  And  her  name  is  Mater 
Tenehrarum, — Our  Lady  of  Darkness,"  ^Madonna  spoke 
— What  she  spoke  translated  out  of  signs  was  this ; 


222  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"Lo!  this  is  lie  that  once  I  made  my  darling. 
Through  me  it  was,  by  languishing  desires,  that  he 
worshiped  the  worm."  And  thou  "  turning  to  Mater 
Tenebrarum  she  said,  wicked  sister,  that  temptest  and 
hatest,  do  thou  take  him,  see  that  thy  sceptre  lies  heavy 
on  his  head.  Suffer  not  woman,  and  her  tenderness,  to 
sit  near  him  in  his  darkness.  Banish  the  frailties  of 
hope,  wither  the  relenting  of  love,  scorch  the  fountain 
of  tears,  curse  him  as  onl}^  thou  canst  curse." 

Truly  the  horrors  of  darkness — of  Matev  Tenebrarum^ 
encompassed  him,  he  was  enduring  the  agonies  of  the 
damned.  He  rose  and  recklessl}^  resorted  to  more  of 
the  opiate,  this  time  with  greater  success.  He  slept 
but  a  sleep  tortured  with  frightful  visions. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

;-  "  O.  she  is  gone  forever. 

I  know  when  one  is  dead,  and  wlieu  one  lives ; 
She  's  dead  as  earth  ;  Lend  me  a  looking-glass; 
If  that  her  breath  will  mist  or  stain  the  stone, 
Why,  then  she  lives." 

Shakspeare  :  King  Leae. 

In  the  morning  Auguste,  having  been  told  by  his 
master  that  he  was  sick,  went  earlier  to  his  room  than 
was  his  custom.  He  turned  the  door-knob  softly  not 
to  aAvaken  Major  Baron,  if  sleeping,  and  hearing  no 
sound  went  back  down  stairs. 

He  remained  until  a  rather  late  hour  before  returning 
and  was  about  doing  so  when  his  attention  was  at- 
tracted by  a  confused  mass  of  people  moving  along  the 
street.  Like  a  line  of  ants  thrown  into  confusion  they 
were  halting  here  and  there  in  groups,  as  though  touch- 
ing antennae,  and  hurrying  on  in  continuously  increas- 
ing stream  down  the  street. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLAY.  223 

Auguste,  with  natural  curiosity  changed  the  course 
of  his  steps  and  went  hurriedly  into  the  street  to  en- 
quire the  cause  of  the  coniniotion. 

''  Old  Yarja,  the  tobacco  man,  and  his  pretty  daugh- 
ter are  murdered.  Dead,  all  cut  to  pieces,  down  1)y 
the  river  in  the  cemetery.  Mr.  Rogers  has  seen  them, 
and  come  up  for  a  cart  to  bring  them  in,"  said  the  man 
of  whom  Auguste  inquired,  with  the  usual  exaggera- 
tion, as  well  as  with  alacrity  to  communicate  ill-news. 

Auguste  was  probably  more  horror-stricken  and 
aghast  at  this  information  than  any  one  in  the  crowd. 
His  acquaintance  antedated  theirs,  and  some  circum- 
stances connected  with  them  were  also  known  to  him, 
of  which  they  were  ignorant.  But  with  that  tendency 
to  secrecy  inherent  in  the  negro  race  he  kept  his  own 
counsel.  The  white  orbs  around  his  dilated  eyes,  how- 
ever, attested  the  horror  with  wliich  he  heard  the  fear- 
ful story. 

Returning  to  the  hotel  he  did  not  hesitate  now  to 
awaken  his  master,  but  went  quickly  upstairs  for  that 
purpose.  Having  been  valet  to  Major  Baron  for  years, 
Auguste  was  probably  better  posted  as  to  that  gentle- 
man's affairs  than  any  other  living  person.  He  had  now 
an  instinctive  idea  that  his  master's  illness  was  in  some 
mysterious  way  connected  with  this  tragedy. 

Auguste  also  began  to  feel  some  alarm  as  to  the  mor- 
phine which  he  had  been  sent  to  purchase.  Though  he 
was  aware  that  Major  Baron  resorted  at  times  to  a 
stimulant,  under  vexation  or  annoyance,  he  had  never 
known  him  to  take  a  narcotic. 

Knocking  gently  at  Major  Baron's  door  without 
avail,  Auguste  shook  it  violently,  but  without  response. 
iNow  really  alarmed,  he  shook  the  door  with  still  greater 
violence.  Major  Baron  sighed  profoundly,  and,  turn- 
ing upon  his  bed,  muttered  some  incoherent  words,  and 
was  about  falling  asleep  again,  when  another  rattling 
ot  the  door  aroused  him  to  dim,  painful  consciousness. 
He  rose  to  a  sitting  posture  witli  a  bewildered,  half- 


224  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

dazed  feeling,  but  witli  a  rush  of  confused  thought  and 
apprehension ;  at  another  shake  of  the  door,  he  with  un- 
certain step  walked  to  the  door  and  opened  it. 

Auguste  was  too  much  absorbed  at  the  time  in  the 
startling  news  he  had  to  communicate  to  observe  Major 
Baron.  But,  with  eyes  still  dilated  with  horror,  he 
gasped  out,  "  Marster,  Miss  Zara  and  old  Varja's  dead. 
Done  murdered,  cut  all  to  pieces,  down  in  the  ceme- 
tery. Mr.  Hodges  is  come  for  a  cart  to  fetch  'em  up. 
He  's  gone  for  'em  now." 

Still  stupified  by  the  opium,  it  seemed  to  Major  Baron 
that  he  was  in  a  horrible  dream.  That  he  was  hearing 
an  old,  old  story.  Something  from  the  dim,  distant 
past,  which  he  had  known  or  dreamed  an  interminable 
time  before,  as  to  Varja's  death,  which  could  not  be 
made  more  horrible.  But,  in  the  new,  strange  addition 
of  Zara's  death,  there  was  something  that  almost  made, 
him  laugh,  a  grim,  horrible  laugh,  as  the  thought  of 
this  unexpected  and  unhoped  for  deliverance  from  Zara, 
and  from  this  witness  of  his  crime,  dawned  upon  his 
dim  consciousness. 

Clasping  both  hands  tightly  to  his  throbbing  temples 
Major  Baron  asked,  "  How — how  do  you  know  ?  Are 
you  sure — sure  it  is  true  ?  " 

"  Everybody  says  so.  All  the  town 's  done  gone 
down  there  to  see  them.  I  thought  I  'd  come  and  tell 
you  and  see  if  vou  wanted  anything,  and  if  I  could  n't 
go  too  ?  " 

"  Bring  me  a  cup  of  coffee,"  said  Major  Baron,  shift- 
ing his  hands  to  the  top  of  his  head  and  clasping  them 
there.  He  had  a  vague  remembrance  that  coffee  was 
an  antidote  to  the  opiate,  he  felt  as  though  he  were  los- 
ing his  reason. 

Auguste  returned  quickly  with  the  coffee,  being  in- 
cited to  unusual  alacrity  by  a  wish  to  gratify  his  curios- 
ity. 

"  Can  I  go  now,  marster?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes,. see,  and — and  come  and  tell  me.     Don't  tell 


THE  FEET  OF  GLA  Y,  225 

that  you  knew  anything  of  them,"  said  Major  Baron, 
tortured  with  harrowing  dread  and  anxiety.  Hoping, 
yet  fearing  that  the  news  of  Zara's  death  might  not  be 
true. 

Before  Auguste  had  opportunity  to  get  away  from 
the  hotel,  the  cart  conveying  the  insensible  girl  to  her 
desolate  home  was  on  its  way  back.  The  old  Scotch 
grave-digger,  walking  by  the  side  of  the  cart,  where  he 
had  placed  Zara,  had  constituted  himself  a  sort  of  a 
body-guard. 

Augiiste  soon  joined  the  crowd  surrounding  the  girl, 
who  had  been  attracted  by  that  morbid  curiosity  which 
never  fails  to  draw  a  throng,  to  batten  like  birds  of  evil 
omen  upon  scenes  of  horror.  They  were  discussing  the 
tragic  event  as  they  moved  on. 

Auguste,  peering  over  the  heads  of  those  nearer  than 
himself,  could  not  determine  in  his  own  mind  whether 
Zara  were  dead  or  not,  and  he  ventured  to  inquire. 

''  No,  she  "s  not  dead  at  all,"  said  the  man  addressed 
with  something  of  disappointment  in  his  tone. 

"  The  likes  o  that  don't  die  easy,"  said  Sal  Slemmins, 
a  shriveled,  parchment-dried  old  hag  in  the  crowd. 

'*  She  's  puttin  on  now.  Don't  you  see  she  is,  Sal 
Slemmins  ? "  said  Polly  Magraw,  another  old  woman. 
"I  believe  she  knows  what's  a  goin  on  this  minnit,  jest 
as  well  as  you  ur  me." 

"  Jes  so,  Polly.  Maybe  she  knows  more  'n  she  'd 
like  to  tell." 

"  Thars  no  knowin — who  can  tell  but  what  she  done 
the  killin,"  Sal  Slemmins  replied. 

''  No,  indeed,  thar  aint  no  knowing  for  a  fact,"  said 
the  other  woman  with  a  dubious  shake  of  the  head. 

''  I  dinna  believe  a  word  o'  it,  yer  blarsted  old  hags," 
said  the  old  grave-digger  indignantly. 

"In  course  yer  don't,"  said  Sal  Slemmins,  "jest  let  a 
hussy  be  young  and  pretty  and  yer  can't  find  a  man 
that  '11  believe  nary  thing  agin  'em.  But  I  don't  keer 
who  hears  me.     I  believe  she  knows   more  'n  she  '11  let 

15 


226  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

on.     And  we  '11  see  what  we  '11  see,"  and  she  shook  her 
head  oracularly. 

"  Shut  up  yer  gab,  you  blarsted  skirling  auld  vam- 
pire, or  I  'se  mak  it  warm  for  some  of  you,  blamed  if  I 
dinna,"  said  the  old  Scotchman  still  more  indignantly. 

"  Ha!  ha  !  ha  !  "  laughed  Sal  Slemmins,  her  shriveled 
wrinkled  face  looking  more  hideous  as  she  disclosed  her 
few  remaining  snaggled  black  teeth.  ''  I  thought  yer 
was  a  gettin  too  fur  along  in  life,  Peter  McElroy,  for 
to  be  takin  on  about  a  young  hussy,"  and  the  crowd 
joined  in  the  laugh.  The  halting  of  the  cart  at  the 
shop  door  produced  a  diversion  from  the  talk,  for  the 
time.  Here  the  old  Scotchman  took  the  insensible  girl 
in  his  arms,  and  followed  by  the  crowd,  carried  her  into 
the  room  back  of  the  shop  and  laid  her  upon  the  bed. 

Looking  around  and  seeing  the  motherly  face  of  Mrs. 
Simkins,  the  shoemaker's  wife,  who  lived  across  the 
way,  the  old  man  said,  ''  Mrs.  Simkins,  you  've  got  a 
hairt,  I  trow,  come  and  do  something  for  this  puir, 
faitherless  and  mitherless  young  thing.  And  if  thar's 
aebody  here  you  want  to  help  you,  say  so.  And  I'se 
blarsted  if  I  dinna  hurt  somebody  if  they  dinna  gang 
frae  here." 

The  old  man's  countenance  showed  that  he  was  too 
much  in  earnest  to  be  fooled  with,  and  all  except  Mrs. 
Simkins  and  Mrs.  Brown,  the  saddler's  wife,  whom  she 
requested  to  remain  with  her,  left  the  room,  while  he 
having  sent  for  a  doctor,  stood  guard  himself,  outside 
of  the  door. 

The  women  did  everything  practicable  to  restore 
Zara,  and  she  at  length  gave  signs  of  returning  con- 
sciousness. Her  bewildered  gaze  and  incoherent  Avords 
hoAvever,  made  the  doctor  say  when  he  came,  that  it  was 
likely  to  be  a  tedious  time,  if  at  all,  before  she  could 
recuperate  from  the  fearful  shock  to  which  she  had 
been  subjected. 

Varja's  body  upon  the  river  bank  was  gazed  upon  by 
the  prying  crowd,  until  a  coroner's  jury  could  be  sum- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  227 

monecl.  They  in  yain  sought  other  clew  to  the  "killing 
than  that  probably  locked  in  the  breast  of  the  insensi- 
ble girl ;  who  having  been  found  prostrate  upon  her 
murdered  father's  breast,  was  likely  to  have  been  a  wit- 
ness, if  not  a  party  to  the  horrible  deed.  No  footsteps 
or  other  signs  which  might  have  indicated  the  guilty 
author  of  the  crime  remained  after  the  Hooding  storm 
of  the  night  before. 

The  possibility  of  the  daughter's  having  done  the 
deed  was  suggested.  But  young,  frail,  half-dead  as  she 
was,  with  her  sorrow  and  her  beauty  to  plead  for  her  ; 
no  set  of  men  could  possibly  have  passed  judgment 
upon  her  unheard. 

The  jury  returned  a  verdict,  '^  Killed  by  stabbing  to 
the  heart  with  a  dagger,  in  the  hand  of  some  person 
unknown  to  the  jury." 


CHAPTER  XL. 

"  Not  thus  our  vows  confirm'd  by  -wine  and  gore, 
Those  hands  we  plighted  and  those  oaths  we  swore. 
Shall  all  be  vain ;  when  Heaven's  revenge  is  slow 
Jove  but  prepares  to  strike  the  fiercer  blow, 
The  day  shall  come — that  great  avenging  day." 

Homer  :  Iliad. 

The  news  of  this  tragic  event  could  not  be  long  in 
reaching  Aliena's  ears.  Mauma,  suddenly  entering  the 
room,  Avhere  iNIrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena  were  seated,  puff- 
ing for  breath,  in  her  excitement,  exclaimed  with  un- 
wonted freedom,  "  Mistiss,  what  do  you  think?  That 
man  Varjo,  that  traveled  on  the  cars  with  us,  with  the 
pretty  daughter,  is  murdered,  killed,  dead,  down  in  the 
ceminery.  His  daughter  was  with  him  and  she  's  gone 
clean  mad  and  is  most  dead  too,  they  say — Though 
some  say,  she  's  puttin'  on,  because  she  done  the  killin'." 


228  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  When  did  it  happen  ? "  gasped  Aliena,  ghastly 
white. 

"  Laws  a  mercy  !  honey,  what 's  the  matter  with  you? 
You  are  jest  as  white  as  a  sheet,"  exclaimed  Mauma. 

"  When  did  it  happen  ?  "  gasped  Aliena  again,  obliv- 
ious to  what  Mauma  had  said,  with  a  sharp  pain,  like  a 
knife  at  her  heart. 

^'  I  don't  know,  honey,  they  '\-e  just  now  found  his 
body  and  his  daughter  lyin'  acrost  him,  covered  with 
blood,  some  said  she  was  cut  to  pieces  too." 

"  I  heard  her  shriek.  I  was  in  the  cemetery,  when  it 
was  done,"  Aliena  gasped,  shivering  and  white. 

"  You  don't  say  so  I  "  exclaimed  Mauma,  ashy  with 
horror  at  Aliena's  manner,  and  at  the  thought  of  her 
witnessing  the  deed. 

"  I  heard  the  woman's  shriek.  That  sound  startled 
me  to  consciousness  of  the  storm.  It  was  just  as  the 
storm  commenced,"  said  Aliena,  still  trembling  at  the 
memory,  and  at  the  fearful  susjoicion  that  liad  entered 
her  mind. 

"  Hush,  daughter.  Don't  mention  this,  Malvina.  You 
might  be  summoned  as  a  witness,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme, 
agitated  by  Aliena's  manner,  and  alarmed  at  the  thought 
of  the  disagreeable  publicity  to  which  her  daughter 
might  be  subjected. 

Major  Baron  knew  that  he  must  come  out  of  his 
room  and  face  the  fearful  reality,  but  he  had  not  at  first 
the  nerve  to  do  it.  Remembering  that  the  clothes  he 
had  taken  off  might  testify  against  him,  he  placed  his 
heavy  uniform,  wet  as  it  was,  in  his  trunk ;  as  well  as 
the  mutilated  cigar-case  which  had  served  him  to  such 
good  purpose.  And  locking  his  trunk,  an  unusual  cir- 
cumstance, he  placed  the  key  in  his  pocket,  until  he 
could  more  safely  rid  himself  of  these  accusing  wit- 
nesses. The  slight  wound  he  had  received,  which 
amounted  to  nothing,  had  already  closed. 

Auguste  found  Major  Baron  still  in  his  room  when  he 
returned.     He  reported  to  him  all  that  he  had  seen  and 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  229 

heard,  with  the  fact  that  Zara,  though  not  dead,  was 
''gone  clean  mad/' 

Amongst  the  surmises  as  to  the  killing  he  repeated 
that  in  reference  to  Zara's  having  done  the  deed  herself. 
A  surmise  which  Auguste  was  far  from  believing.  Even 
this  was  a  relief  to  Major  Baron — anything  but  the  hor- 
rible truth  itself. 

.  In  the  afternoon  of  that  seemingly  endless  day,  Major 
Baron  having  concluded  to  leave — to  go  anywhere 
rather  than  face  the  agonizing  possibilit}'  of  exposure, 
shame  and  retribution — determined  to  go  and  say  good- 
bye to  Aliena. 

As  he  was  crossing  the  street  to  the  University  he 
caught  sight  of  a  shabby  hearse,  with  its  nodding  black 
plumes,  moving  slowly  down  the  street.  It  jostled  in 
its  movement,  swaying  aside  the  curtains,  disclosing 
to  view  the  coffin  within.  At  this  sight  his  face  became 
scarcely  less  deathly  than  that  of  the  murdered  man 
shut  up  there.  And  he  staggered  as  he  moved  on  to 
meet  his  affianced  bride — picturing  to  himself  as  he  did 
so  the  frightful,  staring  face  shut  in  there — now  eter- 
nally graven  upon  his  conscience-stricken  memory. 

Delicately  sensitive  as  Aliena  was  to  the  subtile  in- 
fluences of  personal  magnetism,  she  could  not  but  be 
possessed  by  an  irrejn-essible  and  fearful  repulsion  as 
she  caught  sight  of  Major  Baron's  pale  face,  contracted 
brow,  and  compressed  lips ;  so  unlike  the  easy  sensu- 
ousness  which  usually  marked  his  handsome  face,  and 
which  now  so  strangely  altered  him.  And  the  vague, 
shuddering,  accusing  thought  came  back  with  increased 
force,  that  in  some  mysterious,  dreadful  way  he  was  im- 
plicated in  this  tragedy. 

Aliena  could  not  have  been  tortured  into  confessing 
this  horrible  suspicion  which  had  taken  possession  of 
and  constantly  tormented  her — yet,  though  hating  her- 
self for  the  thought,  she  could  not  rid  herself  of  the 
fearful  suspicion. 

Major  Baron's  avoidance  of  the  mention  of  Zara, — 


230  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

his  terror-stricken  expression  at  the  appearance  of  her 
father's  face  at  the  window,  the  continued  dogging  of  his 
footsteps  by  Varja,  the  seeing  him  with  Zara  in  that 
secluded  spot,  almost  identical  with  that  Avhere  the 
murder  had  been  committed,  the  words  she  had  over- 
heard, "  Zara,  tell  your  father  it  shall  be  as  soon  as — " 
air  these  circumstances  though,  as  she  tried  to  convince 
herself,  insignificant  in  themselves,  taken  singly,  yet 
considered  consecutively,  recurred  with  constantly  in- 
creasing and  terrible  force. 

The  great  tragic  event  of  the  day  would  naturally 
have  been  discussed — one  that  so  fearfully  agitated  this 
quiet  place.  Aliena,  hoping  that  her  cruel  suspicions 
might  be  allayed,  would  have  introduced  the  subject 
herself,  but  her  tongue  faltered  and  refused  to  utter  the 
words. 

Major  Baron,  too,  felt  that  his  avoidance  of  this 
subject  was  calculated  to  arouse  suspicion ;  and  would 
gladly  have  nerved  himself  to  its  discussion,  but  he 
found  it  impossible. 

Aliena's  manner  was  so  transparent  that  Major  Baron 
felt,  as  plainly  as  though  w^ords  had  uttered  it,  that  a 
great  change  had  come  about  in  her.  Alive  to  suspi- 
cion, this . re-acted  upon  himself;  and  he  felt  a  certain 
premonition  of  the  loss  of  what  he  felt  now  to  be  the 
fairest — the  most  lovable  woman  that  the  world  con- 
tained. His  heart  more  truly  than  ever  yearned  for  her 
love  now,  when  he  felt  he  was  isolated,  by  crime,  from 
human  sympath3\ 

If,  as  his  good  spirit  plead  with  him  to  do,  he  had,  in 
penitence,  confessed  all  to  Aliena,  who  can  tell  what  a 
Avoman's  heart  might  Ifave  done.  But  he  did  not,  and 
to  have  seen  them  part,  one  w^ould  scarcely  have  imag- 
ined it  was  with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to  re- 
turn in  a  few  short  weeks  to  claim  her  as  his  bride. 

'''  i\Iarster,"  said  Auguste,  having  come  earlier  than 
was  his  habit,  to  his  master's  room,  as  Major  Baron 
was  to  take  the  morning's  train,  "  They  say  they  don't 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  231 

think  ^liss  Zara  nor  her  baby  will  live  the  day  out," 
and  he  glanced  furtively  at  his  master. 

Major  Baron  flushed  scarlet  ;ind  then  turned  deadly 
pale,  as  he  caught  the  furtive  glance  of  the  black  valet, 
Avho  experienced  a  sense  of  satisfaction  in  making  this 
communication,  like  that  of  a  brutal  character  in  goad- 
ing a  spirited  animal  and  holding  him  at  the  same  time 
with  a  cruel  curb.  His  master  had  a  murderous  impulse 
toAvard  the  black  creature  at  this  moment.  He  felt 
how  much  freer  the  slave  was  of  the  two. 

"  Don't  you  want  me  to  finish  your  packing,  marster," 
Auguste  asked  humbly, 

'•'-  Of  course,"  said  Major  Baron,  with  irritation. 

"Please  sir,  give  me  3'our  trunk  key  then,"  said 
Auguste.  He  had  had  an  especial  desire  to  repossess 
himself  of  this  key,  not  only  because  his  master  seldom 
carried  it;  but  from  the  fact  that  Major  Baron  was 
wearing  a  uniform  he  had  thought  somewhat  shabby  in 
camp,  in  place  of  his  new  and  much  handsomer  one ; 
in  reference  to  which,  under  the  circumstances,  he  was 
anxious  to  satisfy  his  curiosity. 

"  Never  mind.  Go  down  and  see  about  my  break- 
fast, and  have  it  on  the  table.  I  will  finish  packing, 
myself,"  said  Major  Baron,  with  evident  end^iarrass- 
ment,  quailing  before  tlie  glance  of  his  cringing  slave. 

A  little  later  Major  Baron  sped  awa}'  upon  the  cars. 
The  rapid  motion  was  soothing  to  his  overwrought 
nerves,  as  he  left  behind  him  the  desolate  girl  whose 
life  he  had  blighted,  Avithout  a  word  or  a  line,  tho  un- 
timely little  waif  whom  he  had  cursed  with  life,  yet 
whom  in  his  heart  he  wished  might  not  live  the  day  out, 
the  murdered  man  mouldering  in  his  grave,  and  her  to 
whom  he  was  unworthily  plighted. 

But  he  could  not  leave  behind  him  accusing  con- 
science, the  avenging  sense  of  guilt.  That  like  a  swift- 
wdnged  Nemesis,  pursued  him  with  a  speed  which  no 
power  of  steam  could  outstrip.  There,  close  by  his 
side,  sat  this  grinning  demon,  eternally  there. 


232  THE  FEET  OF  GLA  T. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

"0  heat  dry  up  my  brains  1  Tears  seven  times  salt 
Burn  out  the  sense  and  virtue  of  mine  eyes." 

Shakspeare  :  Macbeth. 

Mrs.  Skinker  with  Arista  called  some  days  after  the 
preceding  events  to  see  Mrs.  Graeme  and  Aliena.  The 
child  amused  herself  during  the  call  by  a  romp  with 
Hugi  in  the  Campus.  Mrs.  Skinker  was  ushered  in  be- 
fore Aliena  had  an  opportunity  to  have  excused  herself 
as  she  would  gladly  have  done. 

"  Did  you  ever  know  anything  so  horrible  as  the 
murder  of  that  man  Varja  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Skinker  soon 
after  seating  herself.  "  And  they  say  the  woman  will 
never  have  her  reason  again.  She  has  been  perfectly 
wild  ever  since  it  happened.  They  think  now  it  is  be- 
cause she  killed  her  father,  herself,  that  she  takes  on  so 
about  it.  No  wonder  she  's  gone  crazy.  I  have  no  idea 
she  would  ever  be  hung,  however,  as  they  say  she  is 
uncommonly  pretty.  A  pretty  woman  can  do  whatever 
she  chooses.  She  might  commit  murder  CA^ery  day  in 
the  year  without  any  danger  of  being  hung  as  long  as 
only  men  are  on  the  juries,  and  have  the  say  so.  And 
I  hear  Mrs.  Layton  has  gone  to  that  shop  to  nurse  her. 
I  think  they  are  hard  up  here  for  something  to  waste 
sentiment  upon,  when  they  have  to  take  up  such  people 
as  that." 

"  I  should  think  it  remarkable  if  in  a  Christian  com- 
munity no  one  had  the  charity  to  minister  to  a  sick, 
sorrow-stricken,  helpless  woman,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme, 
with  unwonted  asperity. 

"  Chacun  d  son  gout^'^  said  Mrs.  Skinker,  with  an  im- 
pertinent grimace,  shrugging  her  shoulders,  and  pro- 
nouncing the  French  execrably.  As  no  one  replied 
Mrs.  Skinker  continued,  changing  the  subject.  "  We 
are  thinking  of  taking  rooms  in  the  University.  Are 
there  any  pleasant  ones  vacant  in  this  building  ?  " 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  233 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme  wearily. 
"-  Miss    Graeme   is,  if  rumor   is    to    be    credited,  too 
much  absorbed  in  other  things  to  be  posted  as  to  such 
practical,  common-place  matters,  I  suppose.     A  gentle- 
man in  gray,  with  a  major's  star,  is  said  to  be  the  brioht 
particular  star  Avith  her  at  present."  said  Mrs.  Skinker 
showing  the  incisors  in  her  effort  to  be  facetious      Ali- 
ena  was  too  loth  to  discuss  this,  or  any  other  subject  iji 
tact    to  reply,  and  Mrs.  Skinker    continued.     "'There 
might  possibly  be  another  star  of  sufficient  magnitude 
to    arrest    her   attention.     A    surgeon  geneiaFs  for  in- 
stance,   but  Ahena  seemed  so  oblivious  to  her  meanincr 
that,  despairing  of  gaining  any  information,  she  soon 
rose  and  left  to  see  about  the  desired  rooms. 

"  My  daughter,"  said  Mrs.  Graeme,  the  same  after- 
noon, to  Aliena,  as  she  sat  listlessly  holding  a  book  in 
her  hand  not  a  leaf  of  which  had  she  turned  in  half  an 
hour,  ''  It  seems  to  me  you  are  acting  strangely.  It  is 
not  a  month  now  before  the  time,  when  you  have  prom- 
ised to  marry  Major  Baron.  Yet  you  never  speak  of 
your  approaching  marriage  ;  and  act  as  though  you  were 
oblivious  to  the  fact.  Not  that  I  wish  you  to  marry 
my  child— certainly  not,  unless  it  is  to  conduce  to  your 
happiness— you  know  the  reasons  which  actuated  my 
consent.  ^ 

"I  don't  know  what  is  the  matter  with  me,  mother  " 
said  Aliena,  with  profound  sadness.  "I  seem  to  be 
under  some  inscrutable  spell,  which  makes  it  impossible 
tor  me  to  do  anything  now." 

;;  y;^^^  owe  it  to  yourself  and  to  Major  Baron,  then,  to 
tell  him  that  you  cannot  marry  him,  when  you  prom- 
ised; nor  at  all,  my  child,  unless  you  love  him  suli:- 
ciently  to  make  it,  not  only  a  duty  but  a  delight  to 
prepare  for  an  event  that  should  be  the  crowning  happi- 
ness of  your  hfe."  °      ^^ 

Aliena  made  no  reply,  but  sat  with  her  eyes  fixed 
with  a  stony  look  upon  the  floor  before  her,  evidently 
too  hopeless  and  perplexed  for  conclusion. 


234  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

"  Are  you  certain,  my  child,  that  you  do  love  him  ? 
It  would  be  a  fearful  mistake  to  marry  and  then  awaken 
to  the  consciousness  that  you  did  not  ?  " 

"  I  only  know  that  I  am  possessed  by  some  haunting 
demon  that  makes  me  unworthy  to  marry  any  one,"' 
said  Aliena,  bitterly.  And  rising  abruptly  she  left  the 
room,  and  taking  her  hat  she  started  off  to  walk  with 
a  feeling  of  wretchedness  which  she  tried  to  still  by 
physical  exhaustion.  Going  by  a  secluded  route,  not 
venturing  certainly  into  the  cemetery,  of  which  she 
could  not  even  think  now  Avithout  a  shuddering  horror, 
she  came  at  length  to  a  spot  which  gave  her  a  view  of 
Athens.  She  halted  here,  gazing  with  a  profound  sigh, 
at  the  scene  before  her  as,  with  the  houses  dotted  here 
and  there  upon  hillside  and  valley,  it  reminded  her  of 
Vicksburg.  "-  Oh  !  if  I  could  only  banish  the  cruel  time 
since  1  left  home,"  she  thought.  She  wondered,  if  she 
was  thus  to  be  tormented  by  doubt  and  want  of  trust 
forever.  She  longed  to  write  deferring  her  marriage,  at 
least ;  but  what  reason  could  she  assign  ?  That  horrible 
suspicion?  Though  the  great  throbbing  pain  of  that 
accusing  doubt  daily  grew  in  force  and  became  more 
and  more  fearful,  she  could  not  consent  to  form  it  into 
Avords. 

As  night  came  on  she  instinctively  retraced  her  steps, 
though  seemingly  oblivious  to  every  outward  surround- 
ing. Intent  only  upon  stilling  by  fatigue  the  demon 
of  suspicion  and  unrest  that  tormented  her. 

Letters  came  duly  from  Major  Baron,  with  all  the  forms 
and  show  of  affejtion.  But  to  Aliena  they  lacked  the 
genuineness  of  trusting  love.  She  tried  to  convince 
herself  that  the  fault  lay  in  herself,  and  she  replied  ; 
endeavoring  to  wTite  as  she  had  in  former  days,  but 
^he  found  this  impossible. 

Day  after  day  passed,  and  yet  she  had  not  the  cour- 
age, or  power  to  write  that  she  could  not  marry  him, 
— blankly  so,  without  assigning  a  reason.  Yet  each  day 
she  became  if  possible  more  wretched.     She  could  not 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  235 

read,  she  never  opened  her  piano,  she  sat  idle  and  list- 
less when  alone,  making  a  pretext  of  busying  herself 
when  with  her  mother.  She  scarcely  slept  a  few 
troubled  hours  each  night,  waking  habitually  long  be- 
fore day,  tossing  in  hopeless  wakefulness.  Yet  she  did 
not  complain. 

Mrs.  Graeme  could  not  but  see  with  pain  the  restless 
eyes  and  wearied  look  that  Aliena  wore,  making  her 
know  that  she  was  still  pursued  by  this  ''haunting 
demon,"  whatever  it  might  be,  until  she  was  beginning 
to  look  like  a  phantom  herself.  Yet  after  their  conver- 
sation upon  the  subject  of  her  daughter's  marriage, 
Mrs.  Graeme  could  not  again  refer  to  the  subject,  feel- 
ing that  it  was  a  sore  problem  which  Aliena  must  work 
out  for  herself. 

After  weeks  of  mental  straggle,  which  seemed  pro- 
longed to  years,  Aliena  determined  to  write  to  Major 
Baron,  deferring  their  marriage  indefinitely,  assigning 
no  cause. 

She  wrote  as  tenderly  as  possible,  only  accusing  her- 
self. ''  For  some  inexplicable  reason  I  cannot  marry 
you  at  the  time  appointed.  I  am  possessed  by  some 
evil  spirit  which  is  tormenting  me.  Some  day  I  may 
confess  it  all.  It  pains  me  more  than  words'  can  ex- 
press to  inflict  this  upon  you.  Forgive  me,  forget  me 
if  you  can.  Try  to  be  happy.  Do  not  trouble  your 
mind  about  me,  or  about  this  cruel  mystery,  but  hope 
and  pray  for  happiness  for  both  in  the  future." 

Major  Baron's  guilty  conscience  could  not  but  sug- 
gest to  him  what  the  evil  spirit  tormenting  Aliena  might 
be — the  suspicion  of  his  guilt.  And  his  conscience 
smote  him  with  renewed  and  intensified  pain.  If  he 
had  dared  he  Avould  have  flown  to  'her.  But  there  was 
the  dread  of  that  still  unexplained  mystery,  locked  up 
in  his  and  Zara's  breasts,  which,  as  he  had  learned 
through  the  newspapers,  she  had  thus  far  kept  secret 
even  in  her  wildest  ravings. 

The  pain  of  disappointment  in  his  marriage  with  Ali- 


236  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

ena,  to  which,  since  that  fearful  deed,  he  had  looked 
forward  with  greater  eagerness  than  ever,  was  now  the 
more  unendurable  in  that,  blood-stained,  guilty  as  he 
felt  himself  to  be,  a  vagabond  upon  the  earth,  longing 
for  the  sympathy  which  a  wife,  his  through  good  and 
through  evil  report,-  might  give,  he  was  isolated  by 
crime. 

Yet  there  was  one  sense  of  relief  to  him  in  all  his 
grief  and  disappointment.  He  need  not  return  to  that 
dread  place,  where  blood  cried  out  against  him  from  the 
ground. 

Major  Baron  wrote  in  answer  to  Aliena's  letter  with 
unwonted  ardor,  of  his  love,  his  sorrow,  his  bitter  dis- 
appointment at  such  a  conclusion  upon  her  part.  He 
still  urged  their  marriage — if  not  when  promised,  at  no 
distant  day.  Clinging  to  hope  in  the  future,  he  wrote, 
"  But  for  circumstances  beyond  ni}^  control  I  should  not 
write  at  all,  but  fly  at  once  to  you,  and  learn  froin  your 
own  lips  an  ex23lanation  of  this  cruel  mystery.  Painful 
as  is  my  uncertainty,  this  is  impossible  now.  But 
think  of  the  torture  I  endure.  Have  some  mercy — 
Avrite  to  me  that  there  is  hope,  that  I  have  not  forever 
lost  your  love." 

Days,  weeks,  dragged  their  Aveary  length  along  in 
agonizing  vacillation  with  Major  Baron,  who  still 
awaited  exchange  in  ^Montgomery.  Plere  lie  lingered, 
tortured  by  apprehension  of  exposure  as  Varja's  mur- 
derer— a  disclosure  which  hung  upon  the  secrecy  of  Zara, 
of  a  woman  he  had  so  cruelly -wronged  and  deserted. 
He  felt  that  even  now  his  power  over  her  was  such 
that  a  loving  word  might  seal  her  lips.  Yet  he  dared 
not  write.  To  communicate  Avith  her  might  involve 
him  in  the  crime. 

Now,  however,  since  Zara  still  lived,  he  congratulated 
himself  that  the  onus  of  deferring  his  marriage  with 
Aliena  had  not  fallen  upon  himself,  feeling  that  his 
marriage  with  another  would  doubtless  have  unsealed 
the  lips  of  the  wronged  and  deserted  girl. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  237 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

"In  evil  hour  tliou  didst  give  ear 
To  that  false  Avomaii,  of  wJiomsoever  taught 
To  counterfeit  man's  voice ;  good  lost,  evil  got  ; 
Bad  fruit  of  knowledge,  if  this  be  to  know, 
Which  leaves  us  naked  thus — of  honor  void, 
Of  innocence,  of  faith,  of  purity." 

Milton  :  Paradise  Lost. 

The  community  were  astonished  and  shocked,  in 
spite  of  rumors  to  that  effect,  when,  being  sufficiently 
recovered,  a  warrant  Avas  issued  for  the  arrest  of  the 
frail  daughter  as  the  murderer  of  her  father.  Without 
friends  or  means,  nothing  remained  for  Zara  but  impris- 
onment, if  she  persisted  in  silence  as  to  l.er  father's  mur- 
der. No  one  had  had  the  cruelty,  in  her  forlorn  state, 
to  tell  her  of  her  rumored  guilt.  And  her  perplexity 
and  amazement  may  be  imagined  when  she  was  told 
that  she  must  either  divulge  what  she  knew  as  to  her 
father's  killing,  or  risk  paying  the  penalty  herself. 

Zara,  in  her  feeble,  sorroAv-stricken  condition,  was 
stunned  and  bewildered  by  this  terrible  and  unexpected 
charge.  Divided  in  interest  for  herself  and  for  him 
she  loved,  conscious  of  innocence,  believing  it  impossi- 
ble that  she  could  be  made  to  suffer  for  a  crime  she  had 
not  committed — notAvithstanding  his  crime  and  his 
desertion,  her  love  sealed  her  lips  as  to  Major  Baron's 
guilt.  ^  And  Avhen  brought  before  the  magistrate  for 
preliminary  trial,  she  could  be  induced  to  say  nothing 
more  than,  "  T  never  killed  my  poor,  dear  father.  No, 
no.     I  never  killed  him.     I  never  killed  him." 

The  crowd,  drawn  by  eager  curiositv  to  hear  Avhat 
would  be  developed  in  the  trial,  could  not  but  be  moved 
by  the  beaut}',  grief,  and  helplessness  of  the  wan,  frail 
girl ;  who,  refusing  to  testify,  implicated  herself.  And 
with  her  child  in  her  arms,  she  was  led  to  prison. 

Friendless,  shut  up  in  her  cell  from  even  the  little 
sympathy  and    kindness  her  sickness  and  sorrow  had 


238  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

evoked,  Zara's  burden  seemed  more  than  she  could  en- 
dure. Day  after  day  she  looked  and  hoped  in  vain  for 
some  word  or  token  from  Major  Baron,  until  hope  died 
within  her.  Behind  those  dreary  pri>5on  bars,  she  dared 
not  even  inquire  in  regard  to  him.  Yet,  with  a  woman's 
heart  she  tried  to  believe  that  he  had  come,  or  sent, 
when  she  was  unconscious  with  delirium ;  and  that  now 
he  had  been  perhaps  compelled  to  return  to  the  army. 

Preyed  upon,  in  the  loneliness  of  her  dismal  cell,  by 
conflicting  imaginings,  the  memory  of  what  her  father 
had  endeavored  to  make  her  believe  came  back  to  her 
in  torturing  force.  That  Major  Baron  loved  another, 
that  he  had  never  intended  to  marry  her.  She  pictured 
him  as  her  father  had  done,  speaking  words  of  love  to 
another,  clasping  a  bracelet  upon  the  arm  of  the  fair 
girl  whom  she  well  remembered,  or  mingling  his  voice 
with  hers  in  ''love  songs,"  or  even  already  married  to 
her.  She  could  endure  the  harrowing  uncertainty  no 
longer.  And  she  determined,  if  possible,  to  see  Aliena, 
and  learn  the  whole  truth — let  it  be  what  it  might. 

Mrs.  Layton,  remembering  the  words,  "  I  was  sick 
and  ye  visited  me;  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came  unto 
me,"  yet  ministered  by  sympathetic  words  and  kind 
deeds  to  the  forlorn  girl;  despite  the  added  shame  of 
the  accusation  of  parricidal  murder. 

During  one  of  these  visits,  Zara  tremulously  asked 
Mrs.  Layton  if  she  thought  Aliena  would  come  and  see 
her  if  requested.  And  being  assured  by  her  kind  vis- 
itor that  she  believed  she  would,  Zara  begged  that  she 
Avould  carry  a  note  to  Aliena  with  that  request.  This 
Mrs.  Layton  undertook  to  do. 

Aliena  rarely  saw  visitors  now.  On  that  day  espe- 
cially, she  would  have  declined  to  see  even  Mrs.  Layton, 
whom  she  had  come  to  regard  highly.  It  Avas  a  day 
made  more  gloomy  and  full  of  humiliation  to  her  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  to  have  been  her  wedding  day. 
But  remembering  what  Mrs.  Skinker  had  said  in  refer- 
ence to  Mrs.   Layton's  kindness  to  Zara,  she  caught 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  239 

eagerly  at  the  possibility  of  hearing  something  in  regard 
to  the  forlorn  imprisoned  girl,  and  of  getting  a  clew  to 
the  solution  of  the  dark  mystery  overhanging  Varja's 
death.     She  accordingly  determined  to  see  her. 

Aliena's  agitation  may  be  imagined  when  soon  after 
her  entrance  into  the  room  Mrs.  Lay  ton  handed  her 
Zara's  note.  '  Her  agitation  increased — her  face  became 
deathly  white,  and  her  heart  seemed  to  cease  to  beat,  as, 
in  confirmation  of  her  fears,  her  eyes  fell  upon  the  curi- 
ous, cramped  handwriting.  Gasping  out  some  excuse — 
trembling  as  she  rose — she  left  the  room.  Going  to  her 
own  room  she  unlocked  a  drawer,  and  took  from  it  a 
piece  of  torn  envelope.  She  pressed  her  hand  to  her 
heart  and  gasped  for  breath,  as  she  was  confirmed  in  the 
identity  of  the  writing. 

It  was  the  piece  of  torn  envelope  which  Major  Baron 
had  dropped  upon  the  ebony  table  one  evening  at  The 
Castle,  which  she  had  placed  in  a  book  upon  the  table 
when  startled  by  footsteps  as  she  was  curiousl}^  scanning 
the  superscription.  This  book  had  been  brought  with 
them,  and  Aliena,  having  by  chance  opened  to  the  envel- 
ope a  few  days  before,  had  again  curiously  scanned  the 
cramped  writing  thus  accidentally  preserved  with  re- 
newed and  painful  interest. 

Here  she  felt  was  anotheft'link  in  the  chain  of  evidence 
as  to  the  dread  mystery.  And  she  tremblingly  tore  open 
the  note,  and  read  Zara's  request  with  throbbing  pain, 
scarcely  doubting  now  that  she  could  there  hear  the  un- 
raveling of  the  mystery  which  tormented  her.  Resolved 
to  endure  this  harrowing  uncertainty  no  loiiger,  she 
determined  to  comply  with  the  request — to  go  and  see 
the  imprisoned  girl. 

Endeavoring  to  calm  herself — to  still  the  quick  beat- 
ing of  her  heart,-  Aliena  returned  to  the  parlor  to  ask 
Mrs.  Layton  to  accompany  her  in  her  visit  to  the  prison. 
Obtaining  the  desired  consent  they  walked  silently 
toward  the  dread  place. 

Here  Aliena's  heart  sank  and  her  limbs  trembled  be- 


240  THSf FEET  OF  CLAY. 

neath  her  as  the  sound  of  movmg  bolts  and  bars  rever- 
berated through  the  gloomy  walls,  and  she  entered  the 
dismal  place,  hearing  the  same  ominous  sounds  shutting 
her  in  with  dread,  to  whatever  might  be  before  her. 
Moving  tremblingly  on  in  the  narrow  dark  hall,  she 
approached  the  cell  in  which  Zara  was  imprisoned. 
Again  she  shuddered,  at  the  sound  of  bolts  withdrawn 
as  she  entered  the  bare,  cramped  cell. 

Here,  upon  the  onty  chair  the  room  contained,  sat  the 
forlorn,  frail  girl,  her  head  bowed  upon  her  arms,  which 
rested  upon  the  narrow  bed,  where  lay  the  little  unwel- 
come waif. 

Zara  raised  her  head  slowly  and  wearil}',  as  though 
numbed  to  a  sense  of  the  misery  by  its  very  intensity, 
as  she  was  aroused  to  consciousness  that  some  one  had 
entered.  Her  pale,  hollow  cheeks  and  sunken,  burning 
eyes,  gave  evidence  cf  the  suffering  she  had  endured 
since  Aliena  had  seen  her  last. 

Filled  with  sympathy  for  the  suffering  girl  before 
her,  yet  trembling  with  apprehension  of  what  she  was 
to  endure  herself,  Aliena  had  a  vague  consciousness 
that  Mrs.  Lnyton  was  saying  something  to  Zara,  who 
having  bowed  her  head  again  upon  her  arms  slowly 
raised  it. 

And  the  sound  of  bolts  and  bars  made  her  know  that 
she  was  left  alone  with  the  girl. 

Aliena  experienced  a  feeling  as  of  dual  coi>sciousness, 
as  though  she  were  some  one  else  for  whom  she  felt 
sore  pity  as  she  sank  into  the  seat  vacated  for  her  by 
Zara.  Helpless  to  combat  the  misery  to  which  she  felt 
she  was  now  shut  up. 

Zara  seated  herself  upon  the  narrow  bed  beside  her 
baby,  and  said  in  a  low,  dreary,  hopeless  tone,  "  It  was 
good  of  you  to  come.  Though  I  am  not  so  bad  as  they 
would  make  me." 

"  I  don't  believe  you  are,"  said  Aliena  in  a  low,  com- 
passionate voice,  80  faint  as  scarcely  to  reach  Zara's 
ears. 


THE  FEET  OF  CZA  T.  241 

"  No,  not  so  bad  as  that,  not  so  bad  as  that.  I  never 
killed  hira.     I  never  killed  my  poor  dear  father." 

"I  don't  believe  you  did,"  said  Aliena  in  a  husky, 
unnatural  tone  of  dread  and  apprehension. 

"  Yet,  but  for  me  he  would  be  living  now.  He  was 
good  to  me.  I  was  all  he  had — all  he  had — and  I  killed 
him.  I  killed  him,"  said  Zara  in  a  low  voice,  startling, 
so  full  was  it  of  horror  and  despair.  And  her  face  sank 
to  her  liands. 

"  I  cannot  believe  it.  You  must  not  say  you  killed 
him,"  said  Alieiia,  moved  with  compassion,  yet  with  a 
vague  feeling  of  relief  at  Zara's  self-accusing  words. 

"  I  must  speak,"  she  said,  raising  her  head  with  a 
wild  impulse  of  despair.  "  I  cannot  keep  silent.  It  is 
killing  me.  I  must  tell  some  one.  I  am  tormented. 
I  must  know.  ^Nly  father, — my  poor  dear  father  saw  you 
often.  He  listened.  It  was  wrong,  but  will  you  tell 
me  ?  For  God's  sake  have  pity  upon  me,  tell  me,"  said 
Zara,  rising  ^and  approaching  Aliena,  and  leaning  be- 
seechingly forward  with  her  hands  clasped  tightly, 
she  continued  piteously,  "  Tell  me — tell  me  the  truth. 
Does  he  love  3'ou  ?    Did  he  ask  you  to  marry  him  ?  " 

''  Who  ?  "  gasped  Aliena. 

''  Cecil — Major  Baron.  Did  he  promise  to  marry 
you  ?  "  and  Zara's  eager  eyes  seemed  to  pierce  Aliena 
in  the  agony  of  her  suspense. 

"Yes,"  gasped  Aliena,  pale  and  trembling;  feeling 
that  hope  was  fast  leaving  her. 

"  Oh  !  My  God  I  "  exclaimed  Zara,  clasping  her  hands 
to  her  head.  "  My  father  told  me  that,  but  I  would  not 
believe  it.  How  could  I  when  he  told  me  different.  He 
promised  to  marry  me.  Oh  I  my  poor  father  !  my  poor 
dear  father !  I  killed  him.  I  killed  him — and  for  this. 
And  he  left  me — ^left  me  alone,"  and  she  threw  her  arms 
wildly  above  her  head,  as  she  continued  frantically, 
"  My  poor  father !  He  died  for  me.  I  caused  it — 
though  my  hands  never  did  the  deed — and  now  I  am 
all  alone — all  alone." 

16 


242  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

"Whose  hands?"  gasped  Alieua,  leaning  forward 
with  eager,  staring  eyes,  her  voice  sounding  as  though 
it  came  from  some  far-away  abyss — her  lips  even 
blanched. 

"  Cecil's — Cecil  Baron's,"  Zara  replied  in  a  strange, 
sepulchral  whisper,  leaning  toward  Aliena  with  horror 
distended  eyes.  Her  tone  changing  to  entreaty  as  she 
continued,  "But  don't  tell — don't  tell — for  God's 
sake  don't  tell.  They  will  hang  him.  ]My  darling. 
My  baby's  father.  My  father  would  have  killed  him. 
He  wrenched  the  dagger,  and  struck  the  blow.  But 
the  guilt  was  mine — the  guilt  was  mine,''  and  clasping 
her  hands  to  her  face  she  sobbed  out,  "  And  he  left  me 
and  my  poor  baby.  And  not  a  word — not  a  line.  I 
don't  know  where  he  is,  and  they  want  to  kill  me.  But 
I  cannot  tell  at  the  trial.  I  love  him.  I  cannot  see 
him  suffer,"  and  approaching  Aliena  and  sinking  on  her 
knees  she  continued  beseechingly,  the  tears  streaming- 
over  her  clasped  hands,  "Where  is  he?  Give  him  back 
to  me,  my  darling.     You  must  pity  me." 

A  shivering  horror  possessed  Aliena  at  thought  of 
the  cruel  treachery  of  this  man,  one  whom  she  had  once 
thought  she  loved.  She  shuddered,  recoiling  in  thought 
from  him  as  from  a  serpent's  fold.  And  remembering 
the  glittering  serpent  upon  her  arm,  she  would  gladly 
have  snatched  it  away. 

"  I  could  tear  my  very  heart  out  before  I  could  pledge 
it  to  a  man  I  must  abhor.  I  have  no  claim  to  such  a 
man,"  she  said,  trembling  with  scorn  and  indignation. 

"  He  did  not  mean  to  kill  him,"  said  Zara  pleadingly, 
despite  the  treachery  of  the  man.  "My  father  would 
have  killed  him.  He  wrenched  the  dagger  and  did  the 
deed." 

"  How  can  I  know  that  all  you  have  been  telling  me 
is  true?"  said  Aliena,  suddenly  awakening  to  the 
thought  that,  carried  away  by  the  passionate  earnestness 
of  a  woman  of  whom  she  knew  nothing,  she  had  allowed 
herself  to  believe  fearful  charges  against  the   man  to 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  243 

whom  she  was  plighted — charges  which  might  not  be 
true. 

Zara  moved  to  a  shelf,  swung  from  the  bare  wall, 
from  which  she  took  an  ordinary  looking  dressing-case. 
Pressing  against  a  concealed  spring,  a  shallow  drawer 
slid  out,  disclosing  a  photograph  in  a  graj'  uniform  but- 
toned over  a  form  that  Aliena  too  well  knew — the  blue 
eyes  smiling  into  her  face.  The  duplicate  of  one  Major 
Baron  had  given  to  her.  By  it  lay  a  ring  of  brown 
hair,  tied  with  a  faded  blue  ribbon,  which  Aliena  shrank 
from  touching.  Upon  the  top  of  a  little  pile  of  notes 
and  letters  lay  the  one  dated  July  17.  Aliena  read  it, 
well  remembering  the  one  that  had  come  to  her  the 
same  day,  with  the  fruit  and  flowers,  vrritten  in  the 
same  graceful,  flowing,  German  hand. 

"  Zara,  I  am  here  to  see  you.  I  should  have  come 
before  but  for  what  I  shall  explain  when  we  meet.  Be 
in  the  cemetery  at  sunset,  near  the  laro^e  Mausoleum. 

"  July  17,  1873.  C." 

She  did  not  care  to  read  others. 

She  loathed  herself  as  she  thought  with  a  shudder  of 
the  words  of  love  which  she  had  received  the  same  day, 
written  by  the  same  treacherous  hand. 

'^Itis  enough,"  said  Aliena  in  an  unnatural  voice, 
rising  to  leave. 

"But  you  will  not  tell?  I  could  not  but  tell  some 
one,"  said  Zara  beseechingly. 

"I  must  tell  him,"  said  Aliena,  shrinking  from  utter- 
ing his  name. 

"'  No,  no,  he  must  not  know  that  I  have  told,"  she 
plead  eagerly. 

"But  it  will  be  known  at  the  trial,"  said  Aliena. 

"  No,  I  shall  ]iever  tell,"  she  said  earnestly. 
^    "Not  if  they  try  to  hang  you  ?  "  exclaimed  Aliena 
m  amazement  at  Zara's  firmness  of  purpose,  now  that 
she  knew  his  treachery— that  he  had  never  intended  to 
marry  her. 


244  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"No,  I  love  liim.  I  could  not  see  him  suffer.  I  am 
innocent — they  cannot  punish  me.  I  shall  never  tell," 
Zara  reiterated. 

Aliena  felt  at  that  moment  that  Zara  was  to  be 
envied  the  possibility  of  dying  for  the  man  she  loved, 
unworth}^  as  he  was.  Anything  but  living.  Living 
without  faith  in  humanity.  Cut  off  from  all  the  beati- 
tude of  loving  and  being  loved,  which,  without  trust, 
was  impossible. 

"  I  must  hear  from  him.  I  cannot  live  without.  Tell 
me — tell  me  where  he  is?"  Zara  continued  beseech- 
ingly. 

''  If  I  told  you,  you  could  not  write  to  him.  Your 
letter  would  convict  him.  I  must  write  to -him,"  Ali- 
ena said,  with  a  shudder  at  the  thought.  "I  must  tell 
him  that  I  loathe  him — that  I  could  never  marry  such  a 
man.  Let  me  tell  him  all?  I  will  bring  you  his 
answer." 

"  Write  then ;  say  I  could  not  help  telling  some  one. 
I  could  not  endure  the  agony.  But  I  shall  never,  never 
tell  at  the  trial.  They  cannot  make  me.  I  shall  save 
him.  He  will  marry  me  then.  I  know  he  will  marry 
me  then,"  and  hope  faintly  illumined  the  sad,  sunken, 
despairing  eyes  of  the  girl  as  she  spoke. 

A  wailing  sound  from  the  bed  awakened  the  maternal 
instinct,  and  Zara  turned  toAvard  it.  Aliena  fait  a 
strange,  irrepressible  desire  to  see  the  child.  And  ap- 
proaching the  bed,  she  looked  into  its  face  with  curi- 
ously mingled  emotions.  It  had  ceased  to  cry,  and  was 
looking  into  its  mother's  face.  The  blue  eyes  bore  that 
wonderful  resemblance,  to  be  found  only  in  the  face  of 
a  young  child,  or  in  that  of  death. 

A  glance  sufficed.  Aliena  turned  quicldy  away,  and 
sought  egress  from  the  cell  and  prison. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  «4S 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

"  The  rock,  the  vulture,  and  the  chain ; 
All  that  tlie  proud  can  feel  of  pain, 
The  suffocating  sense  of  woe." 

The  stony  face  that  Aliena  had  worn  of  late  made 
the  change  less  apparent  after  the  fearful  communica- 
tion to  which  she  had  listened  in  the  prison.  Yet  fear- 
ing to  trust  herself  to  the  scrutinizing  eyes,  and 
anxious  inquiry  of  her  mother,  wretched  beyond  the 
power  of  self-control,  she  hastened  to  her  room  and 
threw  herself  upon  her  bed. 

Mauma  came  after  a  time  to  summon  her  to  tea.  "  I 
want  nothing  but  rest,"  said  Aliena  without  turning 
towards  Mauma.  Here  she  remained  for  what  seemed 
an  interminable  time.  At  length  assured  by  the  still- 
ness that  all  had  retired  for  the  night,  Aliena  robe  to 
comply  with  her  promise  to  Zara.     She  wrote  : 

Majoe  Baeon: — 

I  write  to  you  to-day  which  was  to  have  been  our 
w^edding  day.  That  such  it  ever  was  to  have  been 
seems  now  a  frightful  dream.  I  have  this  evening 
returned  from  the  prison,  where  I  went  at  her  request 
to  see  Zara  Varja,  incarcerated  as  the  suspected  mur- 
derer of  her  father.  She  told  me  the  whole  horrible 
truth.  She  asked  me  to  say  she  could  net  keep  it 
wholly  to  herself. 

You  will  not  wonder  that  I  return  your  letters  and 
picture,  and  should  return  the  coiling  serpent,  fit  em- 
blem of  your  plighted  troth,  but  that  I  await  the  key 
to  unclasp  it.     You  will  return  my  letters  with  the  key. 

It  is  useless  for  me  to  express  my  horror  at  this 
knowledge.  My  disappointment  in  you,  in  humanity, 
in  myself,  that  it  was  possible  for  me  to  have  promised 
to  have  been  the  wife  of  one  capable  of  the  treachery 
you  have  practiced.     One  so  linked  to  crime. 


246  THE  FEET  OF  GLA  Y. 

I  ask  no  sympathy  for  myself.  But  for  a  woman  who 
so  loves  the  man  perjured  by  vows  he  never  intended 
to  fulfill,  her  father's  murderer,  who  without  a  word  or 
act  of  sympathy  could  desert  her  and  his  child  to  the 
hooting  of  a  friendless  multitude,  as  to  be  willing  to 
suffer  imprisonment,  to  be  "hung  it  may  be,  rather  than 
disclose  the  secret  of  his  guilt,  for  her  I  do  plead.  •  You 
Avill  know  without  my  telling  you  that  it  is  your  dutv 
to  come  and  disclose  by  whose  hand  her  father's  blood 
was  spilled,  to  take  her  place  in  prison,  and,  if  spared 
to  ignoble  life,  to  marry  her.  And  may  God  have 
mercy  upon  you,  upon  the  woman  exj)iating  your  crime 
in  prison,  and  upon  Aliena  Graeme. 

Athens,  Aug.  28,  1863. 

Aliena  enclosed  this  letter,  and  the  others  she  had  re- 
ceived from  him,  with  his  picture,  and  sealed  the  package. 

Then  laying  her  aimless  hands  in  agony  in  her  lap. 
she  gazed  vacantly,  with  ston}^  eyes  before  her,  exclaim- 
ing, "  To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow — and 
for  this." 

She  could  not  endure  to  think.  The  room  stifled  her — 
the  walls  oppressed  her.  They  seemed  closing  in  upon 
her.  Catching  up  the  same  fleecy,  white  shawl  that 
Major  Baron  had  wrapped  around  her  the  night  of  the 
party,  she  threw  it  over  her  head  and  went  out.  She 
plunged  into  the  shadows  of  the  great  oaks  and  elms — 
walking,  walking,  walking.  To  escape  from  what? 
From  herself — from  her  yearning  heart — crying  out  for 
faith  lost — for  love — for  a  love  she  had  sacrificed  for  this. 

The  great  clock  clashed  midnight — midnight  it  truly 
was  to  her.  Black  with  the  blackness  of  the  horror  to 
which  she  was  shut  in — black  witrh  the  pall  of  distrust 
of  humanity — black  with  despair.  Memory  recalled  her 
dream  in  Vicksburg  Etherealized  humanity  rocking  in 
bliss  upon  an  illimitable  ocean  of  happiness.  She  saw 
the  black,  grinning,  ogre  face — she  felt  the  talon  hands 
clutching  her  shrunken,  humanized  body.     Her  heart 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  F.  247 

hammered  against  her  side.  She  saw  again  the  fearful 
conflrct — the  horrible  squirming  and  plunging,  that 
churned  the  phosphorescent  waves  to  lurid  foam  in  his 
death  agony. 

The  grinning  demon  seemed  truly  dragging  her  down 
now,  down  into  the  deep  water  into  which  she  had  come 
— sinking — gasping — drowning.  Down — down — power- 
less to  rise. 

She  thought  of  the  wrongs  to  the  girl  in  the  dreary 
prison — of  the  murdered  man,  whose  sinister  face  had 
haunted  her  living — who  haunted  her  more  horribly  dead 
— of  the  blood-stained  hand  to  which  hers  had  been 
plighted. 

Hearing  footsteps  in  the  darkness  she  started  with 
affright — her  heart  fluttered  like  a  snared  wild  bird's. 
Emerging  from  the  shadows  she  saw  a  man  approaching. 
She  had  an  impulse  to  fly.     But  it  was  too  late. 

"  Aliena,  what  are  you  doing  here  alone,  at  this  hour 
of  the  night  ?  Has  anything  happened  ?  "  Dr.  Leigh 
exclaimed  in  amazement,  as  he  recognized  the  white- 
robed  figure,  and  wild,  pallid  face  that  met  his  gaze 
under  the  white  shawl. 

"I  wanted  air — I  could  not  breathe,"  said  Aliena, 
facing  him  almost  fiercely.  Agitated  the  more  by  this 
encounter. 

"  You  are  not  well.  It  is  not  warm.  You  must  go 
in,"  said  Dr.  Leigh  tenderl}^  surprised  and  moved  by 
the  evident  agitation  her  voice  and  manner  indicated. 
,  "  I  am  not  sick,"  said  Aliena,  walking  on  rapidly. 
Scorning  to  practice  duplicity  by  seeming  assent.  "I 
wanted  air.     I  wanted  to  be  alone." 

In  spite  of  the  seeming  rudeness  of  this  speech.  Dr. 
Leigh  said  in  the  same  tone,  "  I  cannot  leave  you  here, 
alone.     You  must  go  in." 

Seeing  her  enter  the  house,  Dr.  Leigh,  sorely  dis- 
turbed in  mind  by  this  encounter,  and  by  Aliena's  agi- 
tation, went  sadly  on  to  see  the  ill  soldier  to  whom  he 
had  been  called. 


248  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  n 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 


*  His  lightning  your  rebellion  shall  confound 
And  hurl  you  headlong  flaming  to  the  ground  — 
Yourselves  condemne'd  for  rolling  years  to  weep 
The  wounds  by  burning  thunder  deep." 

Homer:  Iliad. 

Sunday  afternoon  Auguste,  with  the  inevitable  in- 
amorata that  every  pLace  furnished  him,  was  strolling 
by  the  river-side  at  Montgomer}'. 

"  Miss  Rose,"  said  Auguste  to  his  inevitable  of  this 
occasion,  who  was  Mrs.  Selwjai's  colored  nurse,  "I  won- 
der what  all  them  colored  ladies  and  gemmen  is  lookin 
at  down  there  by  the  river?    Let's  go  down  and  see." 

"  Certainly,  Capen.  Though  I  hope  it  ain't  nothink 
dead.  I'm  powerful  feerd  of  nothink  dead,'"  Miss  Rose 
responded,  making  herself  amenable  to  the  charge  of 
tautology  in  her  desire  to  give  what  she  considered  the 
"  quality  touch  "  to  the  final  letter  of  *'  nothink,"  upon 
which  she  dwelt  with  lingering  gusto. 

'-'  Don't  you  go  to  bein  feerd.  of  nothin'  while  I'm 
about,  my  dear,"  said  Auguste,  straightening  himself  up 
and  giving  Miss  Rose  a  loving  leer,  as  he  assisted  her 
down  the  steep  bank  to  the  water's  edge.  Here,  a  negro 
man,  around  whom  had  gathered  a  crowd  of  idle  stroll- 
ers, attracted  by  curiosity  to  the  spot,  was  drawing  in 
with  a  pole  a  curious  looking  bundle  floating  upon  the 
water. 

The  negro  succeeded  at  length  in  making  the  haul, 
and  secured  the  bundle.  It  was  tied  tightly  around 
with  a  strong  twine,  from  which  depended  ragged 
shreds  of  paper,  giving  it  a  singular  appearance.  A 
noose  with  a  slip-knot  indicated  the  loss  of  a  weight. 

"  Sam,  here's  a  knife  to  cut  the  string,"  one  of  the 
"  colored  gemmen  "  suggested,  proffering  the  knife. 

''  Is  it  you  that's  doin'  this  job,  Ned,  or  is  it  me  ? 
Sposen  you  hold  your  bosses.     It 's  the  slowest   boss 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  249 

that's  longest  in  the  medcler,"  said  Sam,  feeling  the  dig- 
nity and  importance  of  his  position. 

"  Ef  you  was  a  hoss  you'd  stand  a  powerful  chance  fur 
grass,  shore,"  said  Ned. 

"  I  made  some  grass  ef  I  tuk  some  sass.  Look  at  this 
piece  of  twine  ef  yer  darsent-ter  look  at  hemp,"  said 
8am,  holding  up  the  twine.  Then  proceeding  deliber- 
ately and  tantalizingly  to  pick  off  the  shreds  of  paper, 
he  at  length  slowly  and  a  little  nervously  unrolled  the 
bundle,  disclosing  a  gray  uniform. 

"  I  thought  least  ways  it  was  gwine  ter  be  a  dead 
baby  or  something  lively  of  that  sort,  and  it  aint  nothin 
but  a  muddy  old  uniform,"  said  Ned  contemptuously, 
with  a  sense  of  gratification  at  making  little  of  Sam's 
discovered  treasure.  Though  he  in  reality  partook  of 
the  general  disappointment  at  finding  nothing  more 
startling. 

Sam,  however,  having  an  eye  to  the  useful,  was  very 
well  pleased.  He  unrolled  the  uniform,  took  the  coat 
from  the  ground  and  shook  it  out  with  seeming  satisfac- 
tion at  finding  an  apparently  new  uniform. 

But  as  he  turned  it  around,  ^liss  Rose  threw  up  her 
hands  tragicall}^  and  uttered  a  little  shriek,  exclaiming 
dramatically,  "  Oh  my !  take  it  away,  take  it  away, 
there 's  blood  on  it.  Somebody  must  a  been  killt.  And 
there  's  nothink  I  can't  abide  better'n  the  sight  of 
blood,"  and  she  clapped  her  hands  to  her  eyes  and 
leaned  heavil}^  against  Auguste. 

He,  putting  his  arm  lovingly  around  the  young  lady, 
who  showed  no  signs  of  recuperation,  said, 

''Never  you  mind  that,  my  dear,  blood  ain't  a  gwine  to 
hurt  you,  nor  nothin  else  while  I  'm  about.  By  the  time 
you  've  done  been  in  as  many  battles  as  I  have,  and  de- 
sieged  besides,  you  won't  mind  the  sight  of  blood." 
Auguste  was  at  first  too  much  absorbed  in  these  tender 
offices  with  Miss  Rose  to  observe  the  uniform  particu- 
larly. Turning  now  and  looking  at  the  coat  as  it  was 
held  up  to  view  with  the  blood  and  cut  upon  it,  he  grew 


250  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

ashy  in  appearance.  Withdrawing  his  arm  suddenly 
from  the  young  lady,  who  managed  to  stand  without 
extraneous  assistance,  he  stepped  forward  and  took  the 
coat  in  his  own  hands  to  inspect  it  more  closely.  Slily 
putting  his  hand  into  a  breast  pocket,  he  drcAV  out  sur- 
reptitiously a  mutilated  gold  cigar-case.  This  he  had 
the  presence  of  mind  to  secrete.  And  dropping  the  coat 
as  though  it  had  been  a  serpent,  he  turned  to  Miss 
Kose  looking  more  ashy  than  ever  at  this  confirmation 
of  his  suspicion. 

"  What 's  the  matter,  Capen?  It  'pears  like  you  don't 
like  the  sight  of  blood  yourself,"  said  Miss  Rose. 

"  I  don't  keer  about  soilin  my  hands  with  sich. 
Come  on.  Miss  Rose,  let's  go,"  said  Auguste,  still  show- 
ing signs  of  agitation  as  they  moved  oft'. 

Miss  Rose,  as  they  pursued  their  walk,  tossed  her 
head,  rolled  her  eyes,  and  te-he'd  in  the  most  approved 
style.  She  had  possibly  taken  some  lessons  from  Miss 
Lilian  Selwyn  in  these  arts,  as,  like  all  her  race,  she  had 
the  faculty  of  imitation  largely  developed.  For  which, 
according  to  Darwinian  theorj',  she  may  have  been  in- 
debted to  some  of  her  evoluting  ancestry.  But  Auguste 
was  in  no  state  of  mind  for  love-making  now.  And 
they  finished  their  walk  without  her  receiving  any  far- 
ther demonstrations  from  her  pre-occupied  lover. 

Returning  to  the  hoteh  full  of  the  discovery  he  had 
made,  Auguste  secreted  the  mutilated  cigar-case,  and 
went  to  Major  Baron's  room.  Here  he  busied  himself, 
apparently,  in  arrangements  for  his  master's  comfort. 
Endeavoring  in  the  meanwhile  to  summon  courage  to 
broach  the  subject  of  the  disappearance  of  the  uniform. 

"  You  ain't  been  a  settin  in  here  all  this  evenin,  and 
it  so  fine  for  walkin,  is  you,  marster  ?  "  said  Auguste  at 
length  craftil}?-. 

"  Yes,"  said  Major  Baron  laconically,  and  throwing 
the  remains  of  the  cigar  he  had  been  smoking  out  of 
the  window,  he  continued  motioning  towards  the 
table.    "  Look  there,  and  get  me  another  cigar." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  251 

Auguste  took  a  cigar  from  the  box  upon  the  table, 
and  handing  it  to  Major  Baron,  said  Avith  a  furtive 
glance,  "  I  don't  never  see  you  a  usin  your  fine  gold 
cigar-case  no  more,  marster."' 

Major  Baron's  brow  contracted  and  his  lips  com- 
pressed as  he  took  the  cigar,  and  the  light  obsequi- 
ously proffered,  and  went  on  smoking  in  silence. 

Auguste  was  too  intent  perhaps  upon  the  mystery  he 
wished  to  solve,  to  observe  the  expression  upon  his 
master's  face,  as  he  continued,  "  Marster,  I  should  'er 
thought  you  'd  a  had  on  your  new  uniform.  It 's  so 
much  finer  than  that  one,  and  it  Sunday  tco,  and  I  ?'c\\\ 
Miss  Lilian  dressed  up  powerful  fine  this  evening." 

Auguste  tried  to  look  artless  tis  he  made  this  seem- 
ingly innocent  remark.  But  as  he  glanced  suspiciously 
at  ^lajor  Baron  he  trembled  as  he  caught  the  fierce 
glitter  of  the  eyes  turned  suddenly  upon  him. 

Major  Baron's  face,  at  first  pale,  grew  scarlet  with 
rage  as  he  confronted  Auguste  and  hissed  out,  "  You 
black,  infernal  scoundrel !  You  let  me  catch  you  med- 
dling with  my  affairs  and  your  infernal  head  will  be 
broken  before  you  are  a  day  older." 

Major  Baron  felt  as  soon  as  the  words  were  uttered 
that  he  had  alloAved  his  indignation  to  get  the  better  of 
his  discretion,  and  he  would  gladly  have  recalled  them. 
But  it  was  too  late,  Auguste's  manner  and  words  had 
goaded  him,  in  his  nervous  condition,  to  a  state  beyond 
self-control. 

''  I  did  n't  mean  nothin,  marster,"  said  Auguste  hum- 
bly, fully  convinced  now  that  Major  Baron  had  himself 
caused  the  disappearance  of  the  uniform,  that  its  con- 
dition Avas  in  some  way  connected  with  Varja's  death, 
and  that  the  blood  which  he  had  that  evening  seen  was 
that  of  the  murdered  man. 

Auguste  now  gladly  quitted  the  room,  leaving  Major 
Baron  to  the  ignoble  thought  that  he  not  only  had 
blood  upon  his  soul,  but  that  the  knowledge  oi'  that 
fact  was  in  the  keeping  of  the  black  valet  who  had  just 


252  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

left  him.  And  the  murderous  nupulse  born  of  that 
thought  left  its  polluting  slime  upon  the  soul  of  him 
who  seemingly  had  once  possessed  a  generous,  noble 
nature. 

Thus  does  sin  follow  sin  after  the  corruption  of  the  soul, 
as  vulture  after  vulture  that  of  the  body.  And  a  sense 
of  degradation  and  humiliation  oppressed  Major  Baron 
as  he  sat  thinking  of  the  deptli  to  which  he  had  sunk  ; 
that  he  should  tremble  and  quail  before  even  his  own 
slave. 

The  following  day  Major  Baron  received  the  letter 
which  Aliena  had  written.  Who  can  depict  the  self- 
loathing  with  which  this  once  proud  man  looked  upon 
himself  as  he  read  Aliena's  cruel  words,  smitten  as  he 
was  from  his  high  estate  by  the  downward  steps  of  self- 
indulgence. 

He  took  sheet  after  sheet  of  paper  in  efforts  to  answer 
this  letter.  Some,  full  of  assumed  indignation  at  her 
belief  of  the  charges,  and  of  recrimination  at  her  loss  of 
faith  in  him.  Destroving  these,  he  felt  it  useless  to  de- 
base himself  by  farther  duplicity,  and  he  wrote  con- 
fessing all. 

"How  will  this  affect  her,  wrung  out  as  it  is  by  her 
knowledge  of  the  crime  ?  "  he  thought,  and  he  destroyed 
this  also.  Despairing  at  last  of  answering  her  letter  at 
all,  he  took  her  letters  and  the  key  to  the  bracelet,  and 
without  a  word  to  Aliena,  or  to  Zara,  enclosed  and 
pasted  them  himself. 

If  then,  like  ano|ther  Judas  who  betrayed  with  a  kiss, 
he  had  gone  out  and  hanged  himself,  it  might  have 
seemed  well  done.     But  he  did  not. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  253 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

"  0,  Nature!  what  hadst  thou  to  do  in  hell 
If  thou  didst  bower  the  spirit  of  a  friend 
In  mortal  Paradise  of  such  sweet  flesh  ? 

Shakspeare  :  Othello. 

Aliena  received  the  package  containing  the  letters 
and  the  key  to  the  bracelet.  ^lajor  Baron's  silence  had 
confirmed  his  guilt.  And  with  loathing  she  took  from 
lier  arm  the  pledge  of  her  betrothal,  and  returned  it  to 
him.  She  felt  now  that  it  remained  to  her  again  to  see 
Zara,  painful  as  it  was,  and  let  her  know  that  there  was 
not  a  line,  not  a  word  to  comfort  her  in  her  sorrow. 
But  Zara  took  consolation  from  this  fact,  from  Major 
Baron's  silence.     Hope  comforted  her  with  the  thought. 

"  He  loves  me — for  this  reason  he  no  longer  writes  to 
Aliena.  I  shall  never  divulge  his  secret,  he  will  marry 
me  then."  And,  languishing  in  prison,  this  thought 
strengthened  her  resolution,  and  made  life  endurable. 

Days — weeks  of  agonizing  trepidation  and  dread 
lengthened  to  age  in  Zara's  troubled  imagination,  while 
she  awaited  her  trial.  And  still  she  persisted  resolutely 
in  her  determination  to  keep  undivulged  the  secret  of 
her  father's  slayer. 

The  day  dawned  at  length  when  she  was  to  be  taken 
from  the  dismal  cell,  where  she  had  been  incarcerated 
into  the  garish  sunlight,  before  the  gaping  crowd,  await- 
ing a  sight  of  the  sorrowful,  frail,  £riendless  prisoner; 
tliere  to- comfort  the  majesty  of  the  law. 

The  densely  thronged  court  room  was  as  still  and 
silent  as  death,  as  the  trembling,  wild-eyed  girl  was  led 
to  her  place  in  the  prisoner's  box.  There  to  await  the 
unfolding  of  the  testimony  to  substantiate  the  unnatural 
crime  with  which  she  was  charged. 

"  Aha  !  I  wonder  what  Peter  McElroy  '11  say  now.  I 
told  him  she  know'd  more'n  she'd  like  to  tell,"  said  Sal 
Slemmins,  the  same  wrmkled  hag  who  had  scrambled 


254  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

for  a  view  of  the  insensible  girl  as  slie  was  brought  from 
the  cemetery.  She  was  now  struggling  for  a  better 
view  of  the  prisoner  in  the  crowded  court  room,  still 
gloating  over  the  misery  of  youth  and  beauty. 

"  You  blamed  old  witch  you,  git  out  of  the  way  here. 
Set  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief,  they  say.  And  them  that  is  so 
knowin  is  them  that 's  doin — that 's  my  mind,"  said 
Simkins,  the  shoemaker,  whom  she  was  elbowing  with 
her  sharp  angles.  And  he  gav-e  her  a  thrust  with  his 
own  elbow  that  nearly  crushed  the  breath  out  of  the 
old  woman. 

Again  there  was  stillness  in  the  court.  And  a  voice 
resounded  in  the  hushed  room,  "  Guilty  or  not  guilty  ?  " 

Zara's  wild  eyes  looked  wilder,  as,  pale  and  trembling, 
she  answered  in  a  low  voice,  that  vibrated  through  the 
silent  room,  now  still  as  death,  "Not  guilty." 

Zara's  lawyer  was  not  less  ignorant  of  the  facts  in 
the  case  than  the  prosecuting  attorney  himself.  She 
had,  in  spite  of  his  entreaties,  persisted  in  her  refusal 
to  tell  him  more  than  that  she  did  not  kill  her  father. 
He  was  therefore  almost  staggered  himself  in  his  belief 
of  her  innocence,  as  witness  after  witness  was  examined, 
confirming  circumstantially  her  guilt.  No  testimony 
pointing  to  any  one  else  could  be  produced.  While  her 
silence  under  the  fearful  charge  seemed  to  point  to  her 
alone  as  the  murderer. 

The  old  grave-digger  testified  to  hearing  a  woman's 
shriek  just  before  the  storm,  on  the  evening  when  the 
murder  was  supposed  to  have  been  committed,  and  to 
finding  the  body  of  the  murdered  man  the  next  morn- 
ing, with  Zara's  head  upon  the  breast,  and  her  arms  as 
though  in  loosened  clasp  about  it.  INIr.  Rogers  corrob- 
orated the  latter  part  of  this  testimony.  Physicians 
who  had  examined  the  body  said  that  its  condition  in- 
dicated that  Varja  had  been  dead  from  twelve  to  twenty- 
four  hours  when  found.  That  he  had  apparently  been 
killed  before  the  storm.  That  he  was  killed  by  a  keen- 
pointed   instrument,    which  had  perforated  the  heart. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  255 

That  the  wound  corresponded  with  the  dagger  found 
at  his  side.  That  it  was  a  ])old  stroke,  having  pene- 
trated to  the  handle  of  the  dagger,  as  the  probing  of 
the  wound  disclosed.  That  the  wound  could  not  have 
been  inflicted  by  himself. 

Mr.  Simkins,  the  shoemaker,  testified  to  coming  into 
the  tobacco  shop  a  few  days  before  the  killing,  and  see- 
ing Varja  examining  the  dagger  now  produced  in  court. 
He  knew  it  to  be  the  same  from  having  then  examined 
it  attentively.  Varja  having  called  his  attention  to  the 
fineness  of  the  metal  and  to  the  workmanship,  with  the 
name  and  place  of  residence  of  the  manufacturer  ;  tell- 
ing him  that  he  had  procured  it  in  his  native  country, 
Spain. 

Neighbors  testified  that  upon  several  occasions  they 
had  heard  Varja  speak  harshly  to  Zara,  though  none 
had  ever  heard  her  answer  otherwise  than  mildly,  j^t 
times  with  tears. 

Mr.  Sandford,  a  grocer,  testified  that  while  purchasing 
some  tobacco  from  Varja,  not  long  before  the  storm,  on 
the  evening  of  the  murder,  he  had  seemed  impatient, 
restless,  and  out  of  temper. 

Mr.  Magraw  and  Mr.  Simkins  testified  that  the  shop 
was  closed  that  evening  before  the  storm ;  and  tliat  it 
was  an  unusual  circumstance  for  it  to  be  closed  at  all 
during  the  day,  or  until  a  late  hour  at  night. 

Mrs.  Simkins,  who  lived  on  the'street  facing  the  side 
entrance  to  Varja's  house,  which  was  a  conrer  one  and 
used  as  a  home  as  Avell  as  a  tobacco  shop,  stated  that  as 
she  was  seated  sewing,  facing  this  side  entrance,  she  saw^ 
Zara  come  out  of  the  side  door,  a  short  time  before  the 
storm  of  that  evening,  and  go  down  the  street  in  the 
direction  toward  the  cemetery.  That  she  remembered 
it  the  more  distinctly  from  the  fact  that  she  so  rarely 
saw  her  go  out  of  the  house. 

That  very  soon  afterward  she  saw  Varja  come  out  of 
the  same  door,  close  it  behind  him,  and  go  in  the  same 
direction.     After  dark,  the  storm  making  it  darker  ex- 


256  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

eept  when  it  lightened,  she  was  looking  through  the 
window  to  see  if  the  storm  were  abating,  when  by  the 
lightning  she  saw  Zara  and  Varja  at  their  door.  He 
seemed  to  be  pulling  her  into  the  door.  She  could  not 
say  that  it  was  violently  done.  It  was  bloAving  and 
raining  very  hard  at  the  time,  and  it  was  so  dark  she 
could  only  see  when  it  lightened.  She  got  two  glimpses 
only  by  the  lightning.  She  saw  a  light  in  the  house 
soon  afterwards  as  she  i^'as  watching  the  violence  of  the 
storm,  but  noticed,  not  long  after,  that  the  light  was  out. 

She  had  never  seen  men  hang  around  Varja's  house 
unless  in  the  shop,  and  not  often  there.  That  Zara  was 
rarely  in  the  shop.  She  had  never  heard  au}^  disturbance 
there;  though  Varja  had  a  disagreeable  manner  and 
appearance,  and  a  gruff  voice.  She  had  never  seen  men 
with  Zara,  though  she  had  heard  some  of  them  talk  of 
her  beauty,  and  ex})ress  a  wish  to  know  her.  She  did 
not  know  that  Zara  was  married,  had  never  heard  her 
say  whether  she  was  or  not — had  never  asked  her. 

She  had  heard  Varja  speak  in  a  harsh,  excited  way  to 
Zara  on  several  occasions;  but  had  never  heard  her 
reply  harshly.  She  had  seen  Zara  on  more  than  one 
occasion  shed  tears  when  her  father  seemed  to  be  abus- 
ing or  upbraiding  her.  She  could  not  say  what  he  was 
abusing  her  about,  as  she  could  only  distinguish  words 
now  and  then. 

She  had  assisted  iii  getting  Zara  into  dry  clothing  the 
morning  she  had  been  brought  home  from  the  cemetery. 
She  saw  no  bruises  or  marks  of  violence  upon  her  person. 
She  did  not  think  Zara  physically  strong.  She  had 
nursed  her  while  sick.  Zara  had  talked  little,  while  out 
of  her  head,  only  moaning,  and  occasionally  saying, 
"  My  poor  dear  father,"  or  ''  He 's  ill,"  or  something  like 
that — could  n't  understand  what  Zara  meant  by  the  last 
exclamation. 

When  Zara  first  came  to  her  right  mind  she  seemed 
not  to  notice  anything,  but  lay  most  of  the  time  as  if 
she  were  dead,  with  her  eyes  closed.     The  first  thing 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  257 

she  noticed  was  her  baby ;  it  was  laid  by  her  side,  and 
she  looked  at  it  for  a  long  time  and  then  shut  her  eyes 
again  for  some  time.  Then  she  asked  whose  it  was. 
When  she  was  told  she  closed  her  eyes  again,  and  the 
tears  rolled  down  her  face.  The  Doctor  came  in  about 
that  time  and  said  let  her  alone,  and  leave  the  baby 
there,  tliat  it  would  do  her  good  to  cry.  She  cried  a 
long  time  with  her  eyes  shut,  and  she  did  seem  better 
after  that.  And  two  days  afterward  the  Doctor  said 
she  miglit  live. 

After  Zara  got  better  she  sometimes  cried  and  said 
over  and  over  again,  "My  poor  dear  father."  The 
Doctor  had  directed  every  one  not  to  talk  to  her  about 
her  father,  for  fear  of  putting  her  out  of  her  head  again. 
And  she  had  never  heard  any  one  talk  to  her  on  that 
subject,  and  never  did  it  herself. 

The  prosecuting  attorney  did  little  more  than  sum  up 
tlie  testimony  to  the  jury,  dwelling  upon  the  fact  that 
Varja  had  no  known  enemies,  or  scarcely  acquaintances, 
having  been  in  this  place  a  very  short  time.  And  that 
even  in  a  business  way,  possibly,  from  being  a  foreigner 
and  speaking  the  language  imperfectly,  he  seemed  to 
hold  himself  aloof.  That  the  killing  necessarily  implied 
a  motive.  That  in  this  instance  it  could  not  have  been 
robbery,  as  the  little  money  and  few  valuables  upon  the 
person  of  the  murdered  man  were  untouched.  That  it 
had  been  in  evidence  that  he  had  been  harsh  toward 
his  daughter.  That  the  deed  was  not  done  by  himself 
was  evident,  though  it  had  been  done  with  the  dead 
man's  own  daofg^er. 

or? 

"  The  daughter  was  found  with  her  murdered  father, 
prostrate  upon  the  body.  There,  from  all  appearances, 
she  had  lain  all  that  terrible  night.  Her  dripping, 
dabbled  clothing  stained  with  the  blood  of  her  father, 
indicating  tliat  after  a  deed  so  fearful— so  revolting  to 
nature.  Heaven,  as  though  to  avenge  the  terrible  crime, 
had  so  paralyzed  her  with  horror  as  to  cause  her  to  fall 
powerless  upon  her  murdered  father's  body.  Thus 
17  "^ 


258  THE^  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

divulging  to  the  world  the  guilty  actor  in  this  dreadful 
drama." 

"It  is  natural,"  he  said,  "it  is  womanly  to  dwell  upon 
scenes  of  horror  witnessed.  To  depict  each  word,  each 
tone,  each  look.  To  recount  them  with  shuddering 
horror  again  and  again.  But  here  there  is  no  crying 
out  against  the  author  of  this  direful,  unnatural  deed, 
this  sudden  taking  off  of  a  father.  Nothing  but  blank 
silence.  What  but  guilt  could  thus  have  sealed  a 
daughter's  lips  ?  Her  conscience,  blackened  as  it  is  by 
parricidal  guilt,  falters  at  adding  perjury  to  parricide. 
A  perjury  she  knew  she  could  never  substantiate  by 
facts,  therefore  she  is  silent." 

"  One  witness  thought  she  saw  Zara  and  her  father 
re-entering  their  home  after  the  storm  had  almost  spent 
its  fury.  She  caught  a  glimpse  in  the  blackness  of  the 
darkness  of  that  fearful  night,  made  blacker  by  the 
deed  done,  by  a  blinding  blaze  of  lightning,  of  a  man 
and  woman  struggling  on  in  that  fierce,  wrathful  storm. 
But  this  could  not  have  been  Varja  and  his  daughter. 
The  shriek  heard  by  Mr.  iMcElroy  doubtless  timed  the 
deed.  The  father  was  then  lying  dead  upon  the  river 
bank.  His  spirit,  perhaps,  borne  upon  the  wings  of 
that  wild  storm,  had  then  taken  its  flight  to  the  bar  of 
that  God  before  whom  he  had  been  made  to  appear 
without  a  voice  of  warning,  or  an  instant  of  time  to 
plead  '  God  have  mercy  upon  my  soul.'  " 

"  The  daughter,  paralyzed  with  horror  by  an  avenging 
God,  in  face  of  the  fearful  crime,  prone  upon  the  body 
of  her  murdered  father,  must  have  suffered  the  tortures 
of  the  damned  that  direful  night;  A  foretaste  of  that 
hell  whose  keenest  pang  is  remorse.  A  remorse  the 
more  intense  as  the  crime  was  most  unnatural." 

"  There,  in  that  dismal  place  where  the  foul  deed  was 
done,  the  buried  dead  might  well  have  left  their  graves, 
have  come  forth  to  mock  and  gibe.  Pointing  their  skel- 
eton fingers  at  the  murderer,  shrieking  in  tones  to  be 
heard  even  above   the   voices  of  nature   resoundinor  in 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  259 

that  dread  storm,  '  Parricide,  thou  didst  the  deed  ! ' 
While  the  winds  catching  up  the  sound,  swept  it  over 
the  earth,  proclaiming  in  thunder  tones,  'Thou  didst 
the  deed,  thou  didst  it.'  " 

''You  may  say,  'Who  can  look  upon  that  frail,  beau- 
tiful girl  and  think  her  guilty  ?  '  She  is  frail,  she  is  beau- 
tiful, fair  to  look  upon.  But  does  this  free  her  from 
the  gailt?  So  much  the  Avorse  that  God  should  have 
endowed  her  with  an  angel's  form,  wdiich  could  not  con- 
done the  guilt  of  the  devil's  heart  within  her.  Pity  'tis 
that  guilt  should  wear  so  fair  a  mien." 

"  Is  it  true,  has  it  been  found  in  the  annals  of  crime, 
that  deeds  of  darkness  have  been  done  only  by  women 
as  revolting  in  form  as  in  action  ?  That  God  has  set  a 
seal  upon  them  by  which  one  can  unerringly  point  the 
finger  and  say,  '  This  is  a  murderer,  that  an  assassin, 
that  a  parricide?'  " 

"  No — far  from  it.  Unfortunately  the  most  beautiful 
have  been  most  noted  for  crime,  as  Clytemnestra, 
Beatrici  Cenci,  Catherine  di  Medici,  Lucrezia  Borgia. 
Yet  I  do  not  say  that  God  has  given  beauty,  that  most 
prized  of  all  his  gifts  with  woman,  that  it  may  belie  by 
outward  seeming.  No,  thank  God,  there  are  women  as 
beautiful  in  soul  as  in  person,  whose  deeds  illumine  the 
sometimes  gloomy  pathway  to  that  city  which  hath  no 
need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon." 

"  '  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,'  says  that  model  of 
all  prayer.  As  is  the  temptation,  so  is  the  fall.  Beau- 
tiful women,  caressed,  flattered,  pursued,  tempted,  find 
it  hard  to  climb  the  steep  heights,  which,  though  some- 
times rugged  and  bare,  are  sun-capped  at  the  last.  But, 
yielding  step  by  step,  to  the  seductive  glamour  of  sin, 
they  find  no  lack  of  helping  hand  to  lead  them  onward 
in  their  rapid,  downward  course.  The  grade  is  unfor- 
tunately easy  of  descent.  And,  however  dank  and 
deadly  the  valley,  its  repose  is  tempting,  its  fruits  glit- 
tering, though  they  turn  to  bitter  ashes  in  the  mouth." 

"A  woman  Avho  has,  as  avc  are,  I  fear,  bound  to  be- 


260  THE  FEET  OF  OLA  Y. 

lieve  in  this  case,  taken  tlie  one  dread  step  wliicli  cuts 
]ier  off  eternally  from  hope  of  re-instatement  in  the 
world's  esteem,  stained  by  a  guilt  which  all  the  tears  of 
a  life-time's  penitence  cannot  blot  from  a  woman's  record, 
deserted  by  her  lover,  all  her  sweet  affections  turned 
awry,  driven  to  desperation,  taunted  by  her  father, 
stealthily  secures  the  silent  weapon  which  she  alone 
could  have  procured,  and  secretes  the  keen  blade.  Fol- 
lowed, watched,  upbraided  by  her  father,  she  turns  at 
length,  like  a  beautiftd  but  fierce  panther.  The  devilish 
purpose,  which  irredeemable  sin  has  begotten  within 
her,  prompting  the  deed,  she  strikes  the  blow." 

"  The  hellish  deed  done — nature  itself  revolting,  cries 
out  and  divulges  the  unnatural  crime.  The  wild  shriek 
that  pierced  the  grave-digger's  ear  on  that  portentous 
evening  told  the  story." 

''  Let  no  mawkish  sentiment  prevent  your  doing  your 
whole  duty — what  is  right — what  the  law  demands. 
If  guilt}^,  you  have  sworn  before  high  heaven  and 
before  Him  who  is  at  the  last  day  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead,  to  do  your  duty — ^}'Our  whole  duty,  re- 
gardless of  all  beside.  To  pronounce  her  guilty  if  such 
she  be." 

"  I  leave  the  case  with  you,  and  with  your  consciences, 
whether  according  to  the  law  and  the  testimony,  this 
woman  be  guilty  or  not  guilty  ?  " 

A  depressed  buzz  went  through  the  breathless  court- 
room as  the  prosecuting  attorney  seated  himself  after 
this  summing  up  of  the  evidence  which  appeared  to 
single  out  the  girl  arraigned  as  alone  the  guilty  party. 

The  lawyer  for  the  defense  arose  slowly,  and  appar- 
ently unwillingly.  His  uncertain  voice  and  hesitating 
manner  impressed  the  eager  throng  of  listeners  with  his 
hopelessness  of  success  in  his  cause. 

He  dwelt  upon  the  crime  charged,  murder.  The  fear- 
fulness  of  that  crime,  the  shedding  of  the  life's  blood 
of  a  fellow  mortal.  The  deeper,  doubly-dyed  blackness 
of  the  crime  for  which  this  wan,  frail,  sorrow-stricken 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  2C1 

girl  before  them  was  arraigned.  The  murder  of  a  father 
— Parricidal  guilt. 

He  spoke  of  the  patient  endurance  of.  woman,  an  en- 
dowment of  the  Almighty  to  meet  the  demands  of  her 
nature.  A  marked  characteristic,  known  and  recorded 
for  all  these  thousands  of  years  since  God  created  man, 
male  and  female ;  clothing  her  with  meekness  and  gen- 
tleness, and  him  with  might  and  power. 

"  How  many  women  are  reviled,  abused,  struck,  even 
cruelly  beaten,  without  outcry,  or  thought  of  redress? 
iSTot  seeking?  relief  even  when  the  law  mis^ht  g-rant  it. 
Sleekly  enduring  not  the  sweet  bondage  of  love,  but 
the  cruel  bondage  of  fear." 

"  You  have  in  testimony  in  this  case  that  this  girl  was 
again  and  again  reviled  by  her  father — taunted  and  re- 
proached, moved  to  bitter  tears.  Yet  only  to  tears. 
The  prosecution  has  failed  to  show  even  a  bitter,  re- 
proachful word  wrung  from  her  by  abuse.  A  dumb 
meekness  of  spirit  certainly  wholly  inconsistent  with 
the  crime  charged.  That  of  confronting  a  strong  man, 
frail  as  she  was,  and  fiercely  plunging  a  dagger  to  the 
very  hilt  into  his  heart.  And  that  heart  her  father's — 
apparently  the  only  one  upon  the  earth,  beating  in  a 
human  breast,  to  which  she  could  look  for  love.  Since 
even  he,  upon  whom  maternity  gave  her  a  double  claim 
to  love  and  protection,  seems  to  have  deserted  her." 

"Even  when  driven  to  desperation,  determined  to 
seek  vengeance,  a  woman,  feeling  her  weakness,  does 
not  confront  a  man,  her  superior  in  physical  strength, 
as  she  knows  liim  to  be.  History  and  observation  teach 
us  that  her  vengeance  is  silent,  stealthy,  secret.  Like 
Clytemnestra,  Catherine  di  INIedici,  or  Lucrezia  Borgia, 
quoted  by  the  prosecutor,  they  choose  the  insidious 
poison.  Or,  like  Jael  with  Sisera,  this  frail  girl  if  med- 
itating murder,  might  have  crept  upon  her  father  while 
he  slept,  and  with  one  fell  stroke  have  smitten  him  un- 
til he  died." 

"•  Yet,  you  are  asked  to  believe  that  for  a  few  harsh 


262  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

words  of  reproach,  this  helpless  girl,  scarcely  more  than 
a  child,  was  willing  not  only  to  sunder  the  only  tie  that 
apparently  bound  her  to  humanity,  save  that  of  a  gen- 
eral brotherhood — a  brotherhood  now  willing,  appar- 
ently, to  hound  her  on,  friendless  and  helpless  to  a 
felon's  doom — but  to  sunder  it  by  boldh'  confronting 
this  man,  who  could  have  crushed  her  frail  body  in  his 
muscular  arms,  or,  if  he  had  so  willed,  cast  her  to  certain 
death  in  the  black  water  upon  whose  banks  this  foul, 
mysterious  deed  was  done." 

''  The  blow  was  struck.  It  was  from  the  front.  It 
was  well  aimed — boldly  struck.  No  feeble,  faltering 
hand  dealt  that  blow.     It  was  a  life  and  death  thrust.'' 

"  It  is  in  testimon}^  that  this  girl  rarely  went  out. 
She  avoided  being  seen.  On  that  particular  evening  she 
did  go,  contrary  to  custom.  She.  went  to  the  cemetery. 
A  spot  not  usually  sought  by  women  alone,  at  such  an 
hour — unless  made  sacred  as  the  receptacle  of  some 
loved  form,  when  love  and  sorrow  banish  fear.  Say  that 
she  w^ent  to  enjoy  the  air,  the  scenerj^,  or  to  indulge  in 
penitential  thought?  It  might  have  been.  But  it  is  a 
marked  coincidence  that  the  father  also  went.  The 
same  evening.  To  the  same  place.  Contrary  to  custom 
he  seems  to  have  clcsed  his  shop  during  business  hours 
for  that  purpose.  He  did  not  go  with  his  daughter, 
but  followed  her.     Mark  that — he  followed  her." 

"  Is  it  not  singular  that  upon  this  particular  evening, 
when,  after  a  portentous,  stagnant  lull,  nature  seemed 
to  be  rall3'ing  her  fiercest  battling  hosts  overhead,  that 
these  two  should,  almost  at  the  Siime  time,  leave  the 
house,  and,  not  as  would  seem  most  natural,  together, 
but  that  the  daughter,  with  thoughts  intent  on  murder, 
as  charged,  should  start  before  her  father — instead  of 
following  himy 

''  But  let  us  allow  that  she  preferred  to  do  the  deed 
then  and  there,  instead,  as  was  most  natural,  of  taking 
advantage  of  the   ample  opportunity,  daily  or  nightly 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  263 

offered,  silently  to  dispatch  him  at  home.  Here  all 
that  is  really  known  of  this  frightful  tragedy  is  ended." 

*'  The  spot  where,  upon  that  beautiful  morning,  when 
nature  seemed  to  have  been  resurrected  to  renewed 
beauty  and  life,  the  moan  of  the  sorrow-stricken 
daughter  revealed  the  tragic  story  to  the  old  grave-dig- 
ger, is  a  secluded  one.  A  place  given  up  at  times  to 
the  encroaching  floods  of  the  Occonee.  One  for  that 
reason  seldom  used  as  a  burial  place.  One  rarely 
frequented — not  so  neatly  kept — more  rank  in  growth, 
and  consequently  more  isolated." 

'^  Yet  the  father  and  daughter  were  found  there,  to- 
gether. The  father  murdered.  The  fair,  frail  daughter 
with  her  head  pillowed  through  the  black  darkness  of 
that  night  upon  his  breast.  Her  arms  in  relaxed  clasp 
about  him. 

''  Is  this  the  attitude  of  a  murderer  ?  Is  it  usual  ?  Is 
it  natural  for  a  murderer  thus  to  cling  to  the  gory 
corpse  of  one  whom  diabolic  hate  alone  could  induce  to 
have  deprived  of  life  ?  " 

"  On  the  contrar}',  is  it  not  a  well  known  fact  that 
the  most  hardened  in  crime  instinctively  flee  before  the 
staring  eyes  and  blood-stained  forms  of  those  who  have 
fallen  victims  to  their  wrath  or  vengeance  ?  " 

'*Yet  she  who,  when  reviled,  reviled  not  again,  mur- 
ders her  father — the  only  being,  apparently,  in  the 
world  to  whom  she  can  look  for  love  and  protection, 
and  then  remains  clinging  to  the  murdered  man — the 
ghastly  staring  corpse — until  life  and  reason  seemed  ex- 
tinct : " 

"No.  She  never  did  the  deed.  She  did  not  go  to 
this  secluded  spot  to  meet,  and  murder  her  lather.  He 
followed  her  there.  He  it  was  who  was  intent  upon 
vengeance.  Vengeance  upon  another.  There  was  one, 
as  we  must  know,  for  whom  her  passionate,  untutored 
heart  had  made  her  forget  her  duty  to  God — the  indig- 
nation of  a  father — the  scorn  of  the  world — sire  went  to 
meet  him  there.     This  serpent  who  had  crept  into  and 


264  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

poisoned  their  home  !  Her  father  knew  her  object. 
He  followed  her.  He  would  have  stricken  this  vile 
creature  to  the  earth.  But  this  fiend  incarnate — this 
devil's  demon — not  content  with  his  damning  deed, 
clutches  the  avenging  dagger  from  the  father's  hand,  and 
strikes  the  fatal  blow." 

Zara,  who  had  at  this  unexpected,  impassioned  deline- 
ation of  the  scene,  reached  forward  from  her  seat  with 
distended  eyes,  and  blanched,  terror-stricken  face,  now 
uttered  a  wild  shriek  and  sank  back  insensible. 

While  means  wxre  being  used  to  recover  her,  the 
speaker  continued. 

"You  heard  that  cr}^?  It  was  a  faint  echo  of  the 
heart-rending  one  wrung  from  the  suffering  girl  as  her 
father  fell  beneath  the  stroke  of  her  vile  betraj^er — her 
father's  assassin.  The  cry  which  smote  so  direfull}' 
upon  the  grave-digger's  ears  as  he  plyed  his  vocation  on 
that  fearful  evening.  Zara,  then  witnessing  the  deed 
that  left  her  fatherless,  and  friendless,  Avhich  she  canuot 
now  hear  depicted  wdthout  the  same  wail  of  woe  and 
horror,  fell  helpless  upon  her  father's  bod}'." 

"  Look  at  that  blanched  face  I  That  insensible  form  ! 
She  has  refused  to  speak,  but  the  secret  has  been  wrung 
from  her.  Her  wailing  shriek,  her  insensible  form  has 
divulged  the  story.  Closely  as  her  lips  have  been  sealed 
it  is  all  told  now.  Her  betrayer  did  the  deed.  She 
loves  him.  Yes, — despite  it  all  she  loves  him,  and 
would  screen  the  dastard.  Would  save  Jiim  by  the 
sacrifice  of  her  own  life." 

"It  is  useless  forme  to  say  more.  That  mute,  un- 
conscious form  pleads  more  eloquently  than  I  could  pos- 
sibly do.  Called  to  face  the  solemn  majesty  of  the  law, 
friendless — deserted — imprisoned — her  life  imperiled, 
she  bore  it  all  bravely.  But  point  but  your  finger  at 
the  man  she  loves  and  the  woman's  heart  cries  out." 
-  "  Who  this  man  may  be  we  cannot  tell.  He,  God, 
and  herself  alone  may  know.  Yet  he  is  the  murderer. 
He  it  is  who  should  take  her  place  in  the  prisoner's  box^ 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T.  265 

who  should  expiate  his  crime  upon  the  scaffold.  But 
dastard  and  double  murderer  as  he  may  be,  he  has  left 
her — this  frail  girl,  to  peril  her  life,  to  die  for  him  while 
he  keeps  in  covert." 

"  If  the  law  can  reach  him,  I  say  hang  him.  Yes, 
hanor  him  as  hi^jh  as  Haman.  jNIake  him  a  scoff  to  the 
world  as  he  will  be  to  the  devils  damned  in  hell." 

*•'  But  why  say  more  ?  If  there  is  one  among  you  so 
dead  to  justice,  to  humanity,  as  to  believe  her  guilty — 
to  be  willing  to  see  her  hung — let  him  hang  her.  But 
in  mercy  let  him  in  the  verdict  include  the  wailing  waif 
of  this  unnatural  father.  In  God's  name  I  say,  in  death 
do  not  divide  them." 

The  hum  of  approbation  that  followed  the  closing  of 
this  speech  burst  out  into  applause  that  could  not  at 
first  be  checked.  This,  arousing  Zara  from  her  insensi- 
bility, she  rose  slowly  and  wearily  to  a  sitting  posture. 
Looking  around,  bewildered  at  the  noise  and  the  crowd, 
she  bowed  her  head  again  in  her  hands,  and  sat  stonily 
— apparently  as  lifeless  as  a  statue. 

As  the  Judge  gave  the  charge  to  the  jur}^,  summing 
up  the  law,  his  voice  faltered  as,  glancing  at  the  frail 
bowed  form  before  him,  he  charged  them.  "If  there  be 
a  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  accused,  the 
law  demands  that  you  give  the  prisoner  the  benefit  of 
that  doubt." 

The  jur}^  now  slowly  and  solemnly  filed  out  of  the 
room.  A  buzz  of  anxious  whispering  went  on  among 
the  excited  crowd  left  in  the  court  room. 

The  hum  of  voices  suddenly  ceased,  and  the  faintest 
sound  could  have  been  heard  as  the  jury  were  seen 
returning.  And  they  slowly  filed  again  to  their  seats, 
and  an  anxious  pause  ensued. 

"Have  you  agreed  upon  a  verdict?"  resounded 
through  the  still  court-room. 

''We  have  agreed." 

"  What  say  you  ?  Is  the  prisoner  guilty  or  not  guilty?  " 

"  Not  guilty,"  said  the  foreman. 


266  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

A  burst  of  applause  that  could  not  be  stilled  followed 
this  verdict.  The  old  grave-digger,  blowing  his  nose 
violently  upon  his  great  red-Bowered  handkerchief, 
leaned  forward,  and,  grasping  the  limp  hand  of  the 
bewildered  girl,  he  almost  crushed  it  in  his  great 
brawny  hand.  Tears  overflowed  the  eyes  of  the  moth- 
erly Mrs.  Simkins  as  she  moved  to  the  side  of  the  out- 
cast girl. 

"  That  comes  of  being  young  and  pretty,  she  'd  a 
been  hungef  she'd  a  got  her  deserts,"  said  old  Sal  Slem- 
mins  to  the  grave  digger  as  he  passed  on  out,  still 
blowing  his  nose  violently. 

"  I  wish  the  law  maun  get  hold  of  you  then,  yer 
blarstit  auld  vampire,"  said  the  old  man  indignantly, 
pushing  on  out. 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 

**Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain  ; 
And  Avith  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 
Cleanse  the  stuff' d  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart." 

Shakspeare. 

All  that  terrible  day  of  Zara's  trial,  Aliena  sat  alone 
in  her  room,  a  prey  to  conflicting  emotions.  Already, 
day  after  day,  since  Zara's  communication  of  Major 
Baron's  guilt,  Aliena  had  been  considering  whether, 
rather  tli=an  that  the  innocent  should  suffer,  it  might  not 
become  her  duty  to  divulge  this  fact,  as  well  as  those  of 
which  she  was  personally  cognizant.  The  haunting 
presence  before  his  death  of  the  murdered  man,  her  see- 
ing Zara  in  that  lonely  spot  with  i\Iajor  Baron,  a  place 
almost  identical  with  that  where  the  murder  was  com- 
mitted, with  the  words  she  had  there  overheard,  "Zara, 
tell  your  father  it  shall  be  as  soon  as."     Facts  which 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  -^07 

she  believed  might  place  the  killing  where  it  belonged, 
upon  Major  Baron  instead  of  upon  Zara. 

But  the  agonizing  thought  of  being  instrumental  in 
the  disgrace,  and  in  the  possible  ignoble  death  of  Major 
Baron,  and  that  too  when  Zara  had  taken  her  own  life 
in  her  hands,  willing,  apparently,  to  lay  it  down  rather 
than  imperil  his,  made  it  seem  impossible  for  Aliena  to 
divulge.  Thus,  unable  to  decide,  not  daring  to  seek 
comfort  in  sympathy,  or  advice,  in  an  ag(jny  of  incerti- 
tude, tormented  by  the  thought  that  should  Zara  be 
convicted  her  blood  would  be  upon  her  soul,  Aliena 
sat  alone,  Avaiting,  yet  dreading  to  hear  the  result  of  the 
trial. 

At  length  she  heard  the  hum  of  excited  voices  and 
the  steps  of  passers-by,  making  her  know  that  the  trial 
was  over.  Longing  to  hear,  yet  fearing  to  do  so,  she 
sat  with  bated  breath,  seeming  to  have  lost  the  power  of 
volition.  She  at  length  heard  Mauma's  voice  in  the 
hall  in  an  excited  tone,  and  would  gladly  have  inquired 
of  her,  but  her  tongue  clave  to  her  mouth,  and  her 
parched  throat  refused  utterance. 

But  j\Iauma,  entering  the  room  puffing  with  excite- 
ment, exclaimed,  "  Thank  the  Lord  I  honey,  they  've 
done  cleared  that  poor,  young  thing.  I  jest  knowd 
that  that  man  never  stood  there  and  let  that  child  stick 
that  dagger  clean  to  his  heart.  They  say  some  man's 
done  it,  and  run  off  and  left  her  to  be  hung.  The 
white-livered  villain  !  Laws  a  marcy  !  honey,  what 's 
the  matter  with  you  ?  "  exclaimed  Mauma,  and  catch- 
ing the  fainting  girl  to  prevent  her  falling,  and  getting 
her  upon  a  lounge,  she  called  in  aftright  for  Mrs. 
Graeme. 

Agitated  as  her  mother  was  at  seeing  her  in  this  con- 
dition, she  had  presence  of  mind  to  use  the  usual  restor- 
atives, but  without  success.  Now,  really  alarmed  at 
Aliena's  continued  insensibility,  she  sent  for  a  physician. 

The  servant  dispatched  happened  to  meei  Dr.  Leigh 
at  the  hotel,  and  returned  in  a  few  moments  accom- 


268  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

panied  by  him.  Dr.  Leigh  was  sorely  agitated  as  he 
caught  sight  of  the  death-like  looking  girl. 

'-'-  Poor  child  !  "  exclaimed  Mauma,  as  he  entered  the 
room.  "  I  was  just  a  tellin  her  about  that  young  thing's 
bein  cleared,  and  she  dropped  right  down  like  she  was 
dead." 

Aliena  soon  showed  signs  of  returning  consciousness 
under  the  remedies  employed,  looking  around  with  be- 
wildered expression. 

Dr.  Leigh  refrained  from  asking  in  reference  to  the 
cause  of  her  swoon,  after  what  Mauma  had  said.  He 
felt,  however,  that  it  must  have  been  some  more  strongly 
moving  cause  than  sympathy,  alone,  with  an  unknown 
girl,  which  had  induced  it.  Her  strangely  Avorn  face  and 
hollow  eyes  confirmed  him  in  the  belief  that  her  present 
condition,  and  the  change  brought  about  in  her  in  the 
short  time  since  he  had  seen  her  last,  was  the  result  of 
some  sore  heart-trouble  from  which  she  had  probably 
been  suffering  w^hen  he  encountered  her  looking  so 
strange  and  wild,  alone,  at  midnight  in  the  Campus. 

When  Dr.  Leigh  left,  instead  of  returning  to  the  hotel 
for  tea,  he  seated  himself  upon  one  of  the  rustic  seats  in 
the  Campus.  His  mind  reverted  with  curious  wonder  and 
pain  to  the  night  when  he  had  encountered  Aliena  here, 
and  he  felt  that  whatever  might  have  troubled  her  then 
had  culminated  in  this  evening's  swoon.  And  he  sat, 
trying  in  vain  to  solve  the  problem  of  her  sorrow.  His 
eyes  wandered  to  the  light  shining  from  her  window, 
where  he  knew  she  lay  suffering,  while  he  was  power- 
less, as  he  felt,  to  lift  the  burden  of  sorrow  from  her 
heart.  He  saw  with  agony  to  himself,  again  and  again, 
in  memory,  the  pleading,  helpless  look  with  which  her 
eyes  had  sought  his  as  she  returned  to  consciousness. 
The  remembrance  of  that  other  time  came  back  also, 
-  when  he  had  held  her,  insensible  it  is  true,  yet  clasped 
in  his  arms.  He  thought  now,  with  yearning  love,  how 
gladly  he  wpuld  hold  her  there,  and,  if  possible,  shelter 
and  protect  her  from  pain  and  suffering. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  269 

He  sighed  as  he  thought  of  the  misfortune  of  his  hav- 
ing been  called  to  see  Aliena,  whom  he  had  been  en- 
deavoring to  avoid,  knowing  as  he  did  that  through 
absence  only  could  he  hope  to  ensure  even  comparative 
tranquillity  of  mind — he  could  not  say  hapj)iness.  And 
now  this  interview,  which  had  made  him  conscious  that 
she  suffered,  had  undone  all  his  eftbrts  at  calm  philos- 
ophizing. 

^  The  following  morning,  Aliena  Avould  gladly  have 
given  way  to  the  languor  caused  by  her  swoon,  the  result 
of  mental  rather  than  of  physical  causes,  and  have  re- 
mained in  the  solitude  of  her  own  room ;  but  she  was 
unwilling  to  add  to  the  burden  upon  her  mother's 
already  sorely  troubled  heart.  And  constraining  her 
inclination  she  rose,  accepting  Mauma's  assistance  in 
dressing,  and  had  but  just  completed  her  toilet  when 
Dr.  Leigh  called. 

She  looked  more  than  ever  like  an  ivory  statue  in  the 
soft  white  dress  she  wore,  which  was  scarcely  whiter 
than  her  pale  face  as  she  entered  the  parlor. 

Dr.  Leigh  came  forward  to  meet  her,  and  taking  her 
transparent  hand  in  his,  he  looked  at  it  in  sad  surprise, 
indicating  as  it  did,  even  more  clearly  than  her  face,  by 
its  diaphanous  whiteness,  how  much  she  had  suffered. 

"  I  hope  you  are  feeling  better  this  morning,"  he  said, 
looking  into  the  pale,  tired  face  before  him. 

"  Yes,  I  am  better,"  she  said  drearily. 

"  You  must  promise  me  to  go  out  of  these  cloistered 
rooms,  to  get  healthily  fatigued  in  body  and  mind  before 
you  can  be  really  well,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  his  eyes  fixed  ■ 
tenderly  and  earnestly  upon  her. 

''I  will  do  anything— anything  you  tell  me,"  said 
Ahena  with  a  look  of  helpless,  hopeless  weariness. 


270  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 


CHAPTER  XL VII. 

"  0,  shame  to  men !  devil  with  devil  damn'd 
Firm  concord  holds  :  men  only  disai^ree 
Of  creatures  rational,  though  under  hope 
Of  Heavenly  grace  and  God  proclaiming  peace, 
Yet  live  in  hatred,  enmity,  and  strife." 

Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 


The  death  of  that  great  chieftain  and  Christian  hero, 
Stonewall  Jackson,  the  loss  of  Vickshurg,  the  falling 
back  of  the  army  of  Tennessee,  the  defeat  of  Gettys- 
burg, the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  the  necessities 
growing  out  of  a  prolonged  blockade,  the  hopelessness 
of  the  chimerical  idea  of  foreign  aid,  the  evident  deter- 
mination of  the  North  never  to  cease  war  until  a  peace 
had  been  conquered,  with  the  numerical  disparity  be- 
tween the  North  and  South,  had  brought  about  a  de- 
pression and  gloom  that  re-acted  upon  all. 

Aliena,  awakening  from  the  dream  that  had  absorbed 
lier,  was  the  more  depressed  by  the  general  gloom. 
Her  heart  turned  now  more  longingly  than  ever  to 
home.  And  her  praj'ers  were  m.ore  fervently  uttered, 
if  possible,  not  onl}^  for  peace  to  her  own  sorely  troubled 
heart,  but  for  that  white-winged  messenger  which  might 
permit  her  once  more  to  find,  as  she  hoped,  a  haven  of 
rest  in  a  home  made  sacred  by  all  the  halloAved  recollec- 
tions of  the  past. 

Her  grief  may  then  be  imagined  when  she  learned 
tliat  since  the  occupation  of  Vicksburg  by  the  enemy  it 
had  been  deemed  necessary  to  draw  in  their  line  of  de- 
fense. And  that  in  consequence,  their  beautiful,  loved 
home.  The  Castle,  had  been  pillaged,  destroyed,  razed 
to  the  ground.;  even  the  foundation  stones  dug  up  to 
make  way  for  the  earth-work  entrenchments  of  the 
enemy. 

All  gone  ;  a  home  consecrated  to  love,  rich  in  the 
memories  of  the  past,  around  which  her  life-time's  joys 
and  sorrows  clustered.     Where,  trained    by   a   father's 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  271 

tender  care  lier  mind  had  unfolded.  Where  it  had 
learned  grander  flights,  until  in  its  widening  s^eep  she 
had  held  communion  in  the  silent  watches  of  the  night 
with  Arcturus,  Orion,  and  the  Pleiades,  or  darhig  far- 
ther had  veiled  her  face  before  the  solemn  mysteries  of 
the  invisible  world. 

There  too  had  aw^akened  that  sweet  and  Ijitter  dream 
of  love,  of  which  nothing  but  pain  was  left.  Memory 
brouglit  in  sad  review  not  only  the  visions  that  then 
made  life  a  beautifid  dream,  but  the  ghostly  phantoms 
of  disappointment  and  distrust  sprung  to  life  from  her 
cruel  experience  since.  A  broken  troth,  a  cowardly 
fugitive,  blackened  by  perjured  vows,  against  whom 
blood  cried  from  the  ground.  A  forlorn,  betrayed, 
sorrow-stricken,  imprisoned  girl  in  peril  of  her  life,  her- 
self, with  the  glittering  fruit  turned  to  bitter  ashes  in 
the  mouth.  And  she  wondered  if  all  the  sweetness  of 
trust  and  faith  were  gone  from  her  forever.  There  was 
a  unison  in  the  desolation  of  her  home  and  of  her  heart. 

Aliena,  enduring  the  agony  of  her  knowledge  of  this 
crime,  cut  off  from  sympathy  by  the  necessity  for 
secrecy,  felt  a  more  entire  isolation  than  ever  before. 
An  isolation  made  more  complete  by  the  distrust  grown 
out  of  her  disappointment ;  which  seemed  to  cut  her  oft" 
as  by  a  great  abj'ss  from  humanity  itself. 

This  was  a  cruel  awakening  for  a  girl  in  the  first  flush 
of  sensitive  womanhood — one  delicately  nurtured  and 
lovingly  cared  for.  She  earnestly  sought  some  w^ay  of 
getting  out  of  self — of  being  "healthily  fatigued  in 
body  and  mind."  Anything  to  escape  from  torturing 
thought. 

Mrs.  Layton,  with  others,  during  this  cruel  war,  had 
devoted  herself  to  all  that  was  left  for  woman  to  do — 
to  clothing  the  naked,  feeding  the  hungry  and  visiting 
the  sick  and  in  prison.  She  became  now  a  beneficent 
guide  to  Aliena  in  inducting  her  into  these  kind  offices, 
in  which  good-work  she  sought  to  find  oblivion  to  self. 

Lookincj  as  wan  as  the  sick  to  whom  she  ministered, 


372  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Aliena  carried  succor  to  the  hospitals,  supplied  through 
the  sel:^sacrifice  of  those  wlio  could  not  but  continue  to 
give  when  they  had  already  given  father,  husband  and 
sons,  to  a  cause  they  believed  to  be  just. 

Here  she  became  an  angel  of  mercy  to  the  sick,  the 
wounded  and  the  dying.  To  them,  Avhen  past  all 
human  help,  she  could  at  least  give  soothing  words  and 
tears  of  sympathy,  making  the  pathway  to  the  tomb  less 
lonely  and  dark.  Here  she  was  the  recipient  of  mes- 
sages of  love  from  the  dyhig  to  dear  ones  at  home — or 
endeavored  to  direct  their  dying  gaze  to  Him  through 
whom  "  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor 
crying." 

In  thus  ministering,  if  she  did  not  find  liappiness,  she 
found  at  least  a  calm  which  made  life  endurable  in  the 
consciousness  of  making  it  less  dreary  to  others. 

Dr.  Leigh  came  upon  Aliena  one  afternoon  in  these 
ministrations,  in  the  hospital.  Seated  by  the  bedside 
of  a  dying  man  she  was  reading  from  a  book  of  holy 
meditation  suited  to  his  condition.  The  nerves  about 
the  beautiful  mouth  of  tlie  sentient  girl,  were  quivering 
with  repressed  emotion  ;  her  soft,  low  voice  pulsating 
Avith  feeling.  The  heavy  gray  clouds  that  had  all  day 
obscured  the  leaden  sky  breaking  away,  the  level  rays 
of  the  setting  sun  glinting  in  through  the  hospital  win- 
dow upon  Aliena  and  the  dying  man,  seemed  a  fore- 
shadowing of  the  daj's  upon  which  he  was  entering. 

Dr.  Leigh  remembered  another  time  when  he  had 
thought  Aliena  a  Madonna  personified,  but,  as  he  looked 
at  the  white,  Mona  Lisa  face  before  him  now,  it  seemed 
realistic  indeed,  and  the  halo  that  the  sunshine  made 
of  her  golden  brown  hair  seemed  a  fitter  crown  since 
her  baptism  of  sorrow. 

Putting  his  hand  upon  the  pulse  of  the  wounded,  dy- 
ing man.  Dr.  Leigh  said  in  a  low  voice,  "  There  is  little 
more  for  you  to  endure.  Your  suffering  will  soon  be 
ended." 

"  Thank  God,"  said  the  dying  man,  and  his  eyes  rest- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  273 

ing  upon  Aliena,  he  continued,  "  the  valley  is  not  so 
dark— the  angels  seem  present  already— and  I  will  soon 
be  at  home." 

Aliena,  overawed  by  the  expression  that  had  come  into 
the  man's  face,  bowed  her  head  upon  her  hands.  He 
only  breathed  a  few  long-drawn  breaths  and  was  dead. 

"-  Aliena,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  forgetting  himself  in  the 
agony,  the  self-immolation  of  the  girl  Avas  causing  him, 
'^  come  away  from  here.     You  are  killing  yourself." 

Aliena  raised  her  white  face  from  her  hands  and 
looked  at  the  dead  man,  seeing  that  he  no  longer  needed 
her,  she  tottered  to  her  feet.  Dr.  Leigh  drew  her  arm 
through  his  and  they  walked  on  out  into  the  fresh  even- 
ing air.     Neither  spoke  for  some  time. 

"You  are  in  no  condition  to  over-tax  your  sympathies 
as  you  are  doing,"  said  Dr.  Leigh  at  length,  his  voice 
inexpressibly  full  of  tenderness.  "'You  must  not  come 
to  the  Hospital  again  until  you  have  recuperated  your 
strength." 

He  paused,  but  Aliena  did  not  speak,  and  he  con- 
tinued in  the  same  low  tone,  "Aliena,  do  you  remem- 
ber that  upon  Lookout  mountain  you  promised  that 
if  you  ever  needed  a  friend  3'ou  would  trust  me,  and 
permit  me  to  act  as  such.  Something  is  wearing  your 
life  away.  Could  I  not  help  you?  I  might  at  least 
share  your  pain  ?  " 

"  No  one  can  help  me,"  said  Aliena  despairingly.  "  I 
must  bear  it  alone." 

"  If  there  should  ever  be  a  time  when  I  might,  will 
you  remember  hoAv  gladly  I  would  save  you  a  pang," 
said  Dr.  Leigh  in  a  low  voice,  vibrant  with  tenderness 
and  pity. 

She  looked  up  longingly  into  his  face,  but  made  no 
reply.  Silently  pressing  her  hand  he  left  her  at  her 
door. 

18 


274  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 


"  Yes !     You  saw  me  on  the  brink — 
Beheld  it  giving  way  beneath  my  feet, 
And  saw  me  tottering  o'er  the  hideous  leap 
"Whose  sight  sent  round  the  brain  with  maddening  whirl." 

KnOWLES  :    VlRGIXIUS. 

Aliena  truly  needed  rest,  she  had  over-estimated  her 
power  of  endurance.  The  death  she  had  witnessed  had 
over-taxed  her  little  remaining  strength.  And  as  Dr. 
Leigh  left  her  she  sank  exhausted  upon  the  doorsteps. 

Letting  her  face  drop  upon  her  hands  she  sat  there 
drearily  thinking  of  the  dying  man,  of  the  dread  mys- 
tery of  death,  of  the  disenthralled  spirit,  of  the  mys- 
terious hereafter.  She  felt  helpless  to  battle  and  buffet 
with  life.  She  had  a  longing  to  be  away  from  this 
weary  world. 

The  clashing  of  the  great  iron  gate,  and  the  hour  of 
evening  possibly,  brought  back  a  memory  she  tried  to 
banish,  but  her  thoughts  would  revert  to  the  sinful  man 
for  Avhom  she  had  sacrificed  so  much ;  and  to  the  dread 
secret  of  his  guilt. 

She  heard  footsteps  approaching — they  drew  near. 
She  raised  her  head.  She  saAv  in  the  dim  light  a  soldier 
in  gray  moving  toward  her.  She  shuddered,'  but  did 
not  utter  a  sound,  though  if  a  disembodied  spirit  had 
appeared  before  her  she  could  scarcely  have  been  more 
surprised.     Before  her  stood  Major  Baron. 

''  Aliena,  my  darling,"  he  exclaimed,  throwing  his 
arm  around  her. 

If  it  had  been  a  serpent  in  whose  coil  she  found  her- 
self, she  could  not  have  flung  it  off  more  loathingly. 

"Aliena,"  Major  Baron  continued,  "is  there  no  rem- 
nant left  of  the  love  you  once  professed  for  me  ?  " 

"  How  dare  5'ou  touch  me  ?  or  suppose  there  could 
be  ?  "  said  Aliena,  tremblingly. 

"  If  you  had  ever  loved  me  you  could  not  give  me  up 
so  easily.     I  have  not  found  it  easy  to  surrender  you." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  K  275 

"  I  have  not  blackened  my.  soul  with  perjured  vows, 
nor  dyed  my  hands  in  blood,"  said  Aliena,  almost 
fiercely. 

'^  Aliena,"  said  Major  Baron  passionfTtely,  "  kill  me 
with  words,  if  you  choose.  I  have  deserved  it,  but  I 
cannot  live  without  you.  I  have  come  to  humble  myself 
in  the  dust  before  you.  Listen  to  me.  I  love  you, 
I  love  as  I  never  expected,  or  hoped  to  love  any  woman 
on  God's  earth.  I  love  you  with  all  the  strong  passion- 
ate love  of  a  man  willing  to  risk  heaven  and  earth  to 
call  you  my  own.  To  have  you  to  myself,  my  very  OAvn, 
to  hold  you  in  my  arms,  as  I  did  when  I  came  to  claim 
you  as  my  bride.  I  believe  you  to  be  the  purest,  the 
most  lovable  Avoman  God  ever  made.  I  cannot  give 
you  up.  I  am  unworthy  of  you.  I  know  it.  I  have 
forfeited  all  claim  to  your  love.  I  AAas  born  with  a 
passionate  nature,  uncurbed  and  uncontrolled  in  youth; 
it  has  grown  w4th  my  growth,  strengthened  with  my 
strength.  I  never  truly  loved  before.  Though  with 
man's  grosser  nature  I  have  been  led  away  b}^  passion. 
I  kAow  you  spurn  me  for  it,  but  men  are  not  held  by 
the  same  laws  as  woman.  Before  I  met  you  I  saw,  and 
thought  I  loved  Zara  Varja.  I  was  mad  enough  to  pur- 
sue her.  God  knows  I  have  been  punished  sorely 
enough.  When,  after  the  siege,  I  came  to  see  you,  as 
my  evil  star  would  have  it,  I  found  Zara  here.  My  love 
for  you  made  me  a  coward.  I  feared  if  you  knew  all 
3^ou  might  spurn  me.  I  dared  not  risk  this  knowledge 
to  you.  To  prevent  this  I  made  false  promises  to  Zara. 
I  hoped  that  I  might  marry  you  and  take  you  away  in 
ignorance.  But  her  father  listened  and  found  that  I 
was  to  marry  3'ou.  He  threatened,  and  I  determined  to 
fly.  I  was  going  awa}^  to  prevent  exposure  and  I 
met  Zara  that  fatal  evening.  Varja,  desperate  at  the 
feared  desertion  of  his  daughter,  way-laid  and  tried  to 
assassinate  me.  I  WTenched  the  dagger  from  his  hand, 
and  in  self-defense  was  forced  to  do  the  deed.  The 
next  morning,  as  you  know,  I  left  for  Montgomery." 


276  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  Did  3'oii  know  that  Zara  was  accused  of  the  mur- 
der ?  "  Aliena  asked  with  unnatural  calmness. 

"  Yes,^  I  knew  it.  But  the  same  reason  that  had 
made  me  weak  before,  made  me  weak  still.  I  loved 
you.  I  could  not  forfeit  your  love,  by  avowing  my 
guilt.     And  I  left  with  tlie  deed  unavowed." 

"  And  3^ou  deserted  that  frail  girl  ?  Left  her  to  bear 
the  penalty  of  your  crime  ?  And  you  come  to  me  pleading 
for  my  love  ?  "  Aliena  said,  in  the  same  unnatural  voice. 

"  I  was  weak.  I  was  criminal.  I  know  it,  but  you 
were  my  plighted  wife.  I  loved  you.  I  longed  for  you. 
My  better  nature  cried  out  for  you.  With  you  I  could 
hope  to  be  all  that  that  better  nature  makes  possible. 
Without  you,  I  am  like  a  vessel,  tempest  tossed,  with- 
out rudder,  buffeted  by  passion.  Forgive  me,  Aliena, 
my  spotless  white  dove.  You  cannot  know  how  I  have 
been  tempted.  AYith  you  a  heaven  on  earth,  a  heaven 
above  is  possible,  without  is  hell,"  and  Major  Baron 
took  Aliena's  unconscious  hand  in  his,  as  he  continued, 
"  My  darling,  think  of  the  torments  of  the  damned  I 
have  suffered,  of  the  remorse,  remorse  for  the  sin  toAvard 
the  woman,  I  once  believed  I  loved — for  the  blood 
spilled — ^for  the  heaven,  in  your  love  imperiled — Have 
mercy,  Aliena,  my  plighted  wife,  as  you  hope  for  mercy 
at  the  last  day.  With  you  I  am  willing  to  face  the 
world — to  avow  my  guilt — if  guilt  there  be  ?  Anything 
you  say,  so  that  I  maj'  be  restored  to  your  love." 

Aliena,  weak  physically  as  she  was,  stunned  by  tlie 
death  she  had  witnessed  at  the  hospital,  bewildered  b}^ 
Major  Baron's  passionate  entreaties,  could  not  at  first 
collect  her  thoughts  to  answer  him.  She  thought  of 
the  wreck  of  her  own  happiness,  of  her  hopelessness,  of 
his  pleading  words  to  save  him  from  himself.  "  Life 
cannot  be  more  a  Avreck  to  me  than  it  is  already,"  she 
thought.  '*  May  it  not  be  right  that  I  should  sacrifice  my 
happiness,  my  life  to  his,  and  not  drive  him  to  perdition." 
But  she  thought  also  of  his  weakness  under  temptation, 
and  above  all  of  his  cruel  cowardice  in  his  desertion  of  a. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


i  I 


girl,  willing  in  spite  of  all  to  peril  her  life  for  him  ;  and, 
throwing  off  his  liand,  she  said  bitterly,  "  All  these  vows 
and  more  doubtless  you  have  made  to  Zara,  and  yet  you 
come  t6  me  thinking  I  can  believe  and  trust  you  ?  " 

"  In  God's  name  !  don't  rank  that  mad  passion  with 
the  love  I  bear  to  you.  In  this,  every  noble  impulse  of 
my  nature  is  stirred." 

"I  am  tired,  and  weak,  and  hopeless.  The  mad 
thought,  even  as  I  know  you  now,  has  entered  my  mind 
to  sacrifice  myself  to  you.  To  crucify  every  high  emo- 
tion of  my  soul  to  your  salvation.  Mad  as  is  the  thought, 
I  have  thought  to  marr}^  you.  In  marriage,  in  any  sense 
in  which  it  can  be  such,  a  woman  must  accept  her  hus- 
band as,  next  to  God,  to  be  held  in  highest  love  and 
reverence.  Without  lovoi  marriage  becomes  a  deadly 
snare  and  sin.  Instead  of  working  salvation  for  either, 
it  brings  perdition.  Every  sweet  emotion  of  heart,  and 
mind,  and  being  turned  aAvry  becomes  a  poisonous  fang, 
gnawing  into  and  poisoning  the  soul.  Could  I  before 
God  promise  to  love  and  honor  a  man  false  to  solemn 
vows — blood-stained — and  a  coward?  If  you  had  had 
the  manliness  to  come  forward,  to  avow  your  guilt — to 
protect  the  frail  woman  whom  you  left,  apparently  dy- 
ing, to  the  scorn  and  hooting  of  the  cruel  multitude,*  I 
might  hope  for  something  in  the  future.  But  when  to 
guilt  you  have  added  the  craven  spirit  of  a  coward,  there 
could  be  nothing  to  hope  for,  even  if  I  loved  you.  Now 
I  know  I  never  loved  you.  I  loved  an  ideal  I  had  cre- 
ated and  placed  in  a  form  that  lacked  the  spirit  to  avow 
itself^  man.  That  could  cringe  and  cower  behind  a 
feeble  woman,  and  leave  her  to  an  ignoble  death — and 
that  woman  the  mother  of  his  child.  If  there  is  any 
manhood  in  you  go,  find  the  girl  you  have  betrayed,  who, 
in  spite  of  all,  still  clings  to  you.  Show  your  penitence 
by  making  her  your  wife.  And  may  God  have  mercy 
upon  you,  though  you  have  shown  none." 

And  Aliena,  leaving  him  stunned  by  her  words,  turned 
and  entered  the  house. 


278  "*  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

"I  feel  the  impulse  yet  I  do  not  plunge  : 
There  is  a  power  upon  me  that  withholds, 
And  makes  it  my  fatality  to  live — 
My  own  soul's  sepulchre."  Bteon. 

There  was  one  thing  that  Major  Baron  had  not  con- 
fessed to  Aliena  in  the  interview  depicted.  It  was,  that 
the  evening  before  he  left  INIontgonieiy,  while  walking 
along  the  street,  he  had  caught  sight  of  the  wild  ejes  ■ 
and  still  beautiful,  pleading  face  of  Zara.  That^  at  this 
sight,  as  of  that  of  an  avenging  fury,  though  certainly 
the  frail,  beautiful  girl  presented  no  likeness  to  such  a 
character,  he  had  shrunk,  cowering  from  her ;  avoiding 
her  by  turning  abruptly.  Having  returned  by  a  circuit-" 
ous  route  to  tlie  hotel,  he  had  rung  for  Auguste. 

"  Auguste,"  he  said,  ''  I  want  you  to  pack  up — I  am 
going  on  the  ten  o'clock  train,  be  ready  before  that  time." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Auguste,  beginning  his  preparations 
at  once.  "  Marster,"  he  continued  hesitatingly,  stop- 
ping the  folding  of  some  garment,  ''  Miss  Zara  come  here 
this  evening  while  you  was  gone.  She  said  slie  must 
see  you.     That  I  must  tell  you  to  come  to — " 

"  Have  n't  I  told  you  that  I  wanted  to  hear  nothing 
more  on  that  subject,"  said  Major  Baron,  in  a  harsh, 
metallic  tone;  turning  red  and  then  white,  as  he  glowered 
at  Auguste,  who  went  on  meekly  with  his  packing,  say- 
ing nothing  more. 

Major  Baron  did  not  go*  to  say  farewell  to  Lilian  Sel- 
wyn;  he  left  a  note  of  adieu  instead,  to  be  delivered 
the  next  day,  saying : 

"  I  regret  extremely  that,  being  called  away  suddenly 
by  business  of  importance,  I  am  debarred  the  pleasure 
of  saying  good-bye  in  person,"  etc. 

Zara  had  learned  through  Aliena,  having  privately 
sought  another  interview  with  her,  that  Major  Baron 
was  in  Montgomery.     Not  daring  to  communicate  with 


THE  FEET  OF  (JLA  Y.  279 

him  by  letter,  since  the  warning  Aliena  had  given  her, 
still  clinging  to  the  hope  that  love  for  her  and  for  his 
child,  and  gratitude  to  her  for  shielding  hira  at  the 
risk  of  her  own  life,  might  make  him  marry  her,  as  he 
had  promised  to  do  ;  she  had  determined  to  go  and,  if 
possible,  see  him.  And  this  was  the  reception  slie  had 
met. 

Major  Baron  had  all  along  earnestly  desired  to  see 
Aliena  and  plead  his  cause  in  person ;  hoping  that,  by 
his  presence,  he  might  accomplish  what  he  could  not 
hope  to  do  by  letter.  While  Zara  remained  -in  Athens 
he  had  not  dared  to  venture  there,  especially  with  such 
a  purpose  in  view,  lest  she  should  avenge  herself  by  di- 
vulging his  guilt.  With  what  success  his  interview 
with  Aliena  was  crowned,  we  have  seen. 

Keturning  to  the  hotel,  after  this  interview,  Major 
Baron  had  gone  to  his  own  room,  his  guilty  conscience, 
as  well  as  his  bitter  disappointment  Avith  Aliena,  made 
him  shrink  from  sight.  He  sat  here  thinking,  until 
almost  phrensied.  He  sought  at  length  to  still  the  agony 
of  his  mind  by  reading.  By  chance  he  had  gotten  hold 
of  Hawthorne's  "Scarlet  Letter."  Such  was  the  cha- 
otic misery  into  which  his  mind  was  plunged,  that  at 
first  he  found  it  impossible  to  fix  his  thoughts  upon 
anything  but  his  own  misdoings — his  disappointment 
and  the  scorn  of  the  woman  he  had  4oved  Avith  all  the 
intensity  possible  to  his  fallen  nature. 

He  rang  for  Anguste  at  length.  Having  determined 
to  leave  iif  the  morning,  he  wished  to  give  him  direc- 
tions to  that  effect ;  desiring  even  more  earnestly  to  get 
away  now  than  he  had  to  come  to  this  place.  His  com- 
ing at  all  and  confronting  the  memories  revived  and 
the  dangers  risked,  gave*  evidence  of  the  power  of  the 
attraction  that  had  drawn  him  here. 

Auguste,  however,  was  not  to  be  found.  Surmising 
easily  where  his  master  had  gone  when  he  entered  the 
Campus,  and  supposing  that  he  would  remain  there  dur- 
ing the   evening,  Auguste  had  eagerlv  embraced   this 


280  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

opportunity  for  attending  to  a  matter  of  interest  to 
himself.  Something  upon  which  his  mind  had  been 
greatly  exercised  ever  since  leaving  Athens — namely, 
devoting  himself  to  acquiring  information  in  regard  to 
the  killing  of  Varja. 

He  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  some  one  who  gladly 
recounted  to  him  the  storj^  of  Zara's  arrest  as  the  mur- 
derer of  her  father — her  persistent  silence,  the  failure 
to  prove  her  guilty,  with  the  plea  of  her  lawyer.  It 
was  as  plain  to  Auguste  as  if  he  had  seen  the  deed 
done,  that  it  was  his  master  who  was  the  guilty  party. 
He  gave  no  intimation  of  this  knowedge,  however. 

Major  Baron  had  resumed  his  efforts  at  reading,  and 
the  fearful  story  at  length  aroused  his  interest.  It 
seemed  w^ritten  to  torture- him.  He  felt  the  Scarlet 
Letter  branded  into  his  very  soul  as  he  read  on  with  a 
fearful  fascination.  He  entered  with  agony  into  the 
remorse  of  the  doubly-dyed,  despicable  hero  of  the 
story. 

Auguste  came  at  length.  There  was  something  in 
his  unusually  obsequious  manner  and  furtive  look  that 
told  as  plainly  as  words  could  speak  to  Major  Baron's 
guilty  conscience  how  he  had  been  spending  his  time. 

"  I  want  you  to  be  ready  to  take  the  cars  in  the  morn- 
ing at  seven,"  said  Major  Baron. 

"Yes,  marster," 'Auguste  replied,  with  a  very  formal 
military  salute. 

"  What  are  you  waiting  for  ? "  said  Major  Baron 
sharply,  with  a  look  that  evinced  the  repressed  desire 
to  hurl  something  at  his  head. 

"Nothin,  marster,  only  I  thought  you  might  be 
wantin  somethin,"  and  Auguste  backed  toward  the  door 
and  from  the  room  in  a  way  tliat  showed  that  he  di- 
vined his  master's  impulse. 

Major  Baron  could  read  no  more  now,  he  could  not 
endure  it.  He  sat  there  thinking.  The  great  Univer- 
sity clock  clashed  midnight,  arid  still  he  could  not  rest. 
He  rose  at  length  and  went  out  into  the  deserted  street. 


THE  FEET  OF  CZA  T.  281 

The  waning  moon  was  rising  dimly.  He  walked  on  in 
the  stillness. 

His  steps  turned  with  a  strange,  morbid  fascination 
toward  the  tobacco  sliop.  It  was  closed  now.  But  the 
sinister  scowling  face  that  he  had  seen  there  appeared 
again  in  imagination.  He  heard  again  the  threatening 
words,  "It  shall  be  the  worse  for  him.  I  swear  to  God 
it  shall  be  the  worse  for  him."  He  saw  the  sobbing 
girl.  He  felt  again  the  tremor  that  had  seized  him  then, 
though  there  was  no  sign  of  light  or  life  there  now. 
His  limbs  shook  under  him  as  he  turned  the  corner  and 
went  on  past  the  door,  into  Avhich  he  had  dragged  the 
dripping,  forlorn  girl  on  that  fatal  night.  The  dreary 
home  where  he  had  left  her  alone,  with  all  that  burden 
of  sin  and  sorrow  to  bear.  He  moved  on  down  the 
street,  the  same  Avhich  Zara,  and  afterwards  her  father, 
had  taken  toward  the  cemetery.  With  the  same 
strange,  morbid  fascination  he  kept  on  his  course  toward 
that  solemn,  dread  spot  where  the  deed  had  been  done. 

He  came  in  sight  of  the  great  gate.  He  saw  the 
white  cross  that  had  seemed  to  stretch  out  its  arms  to 
take  ghostly  form  and  fly  toward  Zara.  He  entered  the 
still,  solemn  place.  He  went  on  by  the  mausoleum 
where  he  had  first  met  Zara.  In  the  dim  moonlight 
the  white  marble  form  of  the  mother  with  her  child  in 
her  arms,  to  whom  the  temple  was  sacred,  seemed 
mutely  to  reproach  him  with  the  mother  and  child  de- 
serted. The  figures  above  menaced  him.  Faith  silently, 
unceasingly  pointing  upward  seemed  to  call  down  ven- 
geance upon  him  from  Him  Avho  has  said,  "  Vengeance 
is  mine,  I  will  repay."  Hope  seemed  no  longer  hope, 
but  black  despair.  He  moved  on  into  the  shadows  of 
the  gnarled  trees  and  tangled  vines  toward  the  black 
river,  to  the  dire  spot  itself  where  Varja  had  lain. 

Here  the  dim  light  of  the  cold  moon  lay  like  "  a  white 
face  cloth  upon  the  dead  earth."  He  saw  in  imagination 
the  ghastly  form  that  never  left  him  now.  The  clenched 
teet^i,  the  glazing  eyes,  the  pool  of  blood.     He  heard 


282  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

the  hissing  oath,  the  daughter's  wild  shriek.  He  lived 
over  the  horrors  of  that  fierce,  wild  storm.  He  heard 
the  voice  of  a  wrathful  God  in  the  thunder,  he  saw  his 
avenging  arm  in  the  descending  stroke  of  the  glitter^ 
ing  lightning. 

The  boat  was  still  there.  He  loosened  it,  entered, 
and  roAved  to  the  micldle  of  the  black  river.  The  minor 
chords  were  sounding  in  the  roar  of  the  falls  above, 
and  in  the  ripple,  sj^lash,  gurgle  of  the  smaller  stream, 
mingling  with  the  sigh  of  the  pines.  He  glaiwed  wildly 
aro*und.     The  sweat  stood  upon  his  clammy  brow. 

He  had  thought  to  throw  himself  into  the  dark 
water.     But  sin  had  made  a  cov»-ard  of  him. 

''  Myself  am  hell,  but  eternity  ?  Eternity  ?  "  The 
voices  of  nature  seemed  to  resound  it  in  his  ears.  He 
took  up  the  oars  and  rowed  vigorously  back  to  the  shore. 
He  trembled  as  he  thought  of  the  deed  he  might .  have 
done.  He  dared  not  stop  to  think.  He  landed  the 
boat  and  made  it  fast  to  the  shore.  .  He  shuddered  as 
he  thought  of  the  tiger  spring,  the  wrestle  for  life,  that 
had  met  him  here. 

Quickly  and  fearfully  he  took  his  way  back  by  the 
brook,  on  through  the  gate,  out  of  the  cemetery.  Un- 
der the  shadows  of  the  great  oaks  in  the  Campus  he 
passed  the  cloistered  room  where  lay  a  white-souled, 
suffering  girl,  her  hands  clasped  above  her  head,  her 
wide  open  eyes  staring  into  black  vacancy. 

He  hurried  on.  He  dared  not  think  of  the  Paradise 
from  which  sin  had  driven  him.*  Pie  re-entered  his 
room.  He  took  his  pistol,  the  same  that  he  had  carried 
since  that  night  when  Varja's  threat  had  made  him 
tremble,  and  going  to  the  window,  he  hurled  it  into  the 
street.  He  laughed  a  sort  of  maniac  laugh  as  he 
thought  that  he  must  live  now. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  ^6 


CHAPTER  L. 

"  But  one  was  out  on  the  liills  away. 
Far  from  the  gates  of  gold ; 
Away  on  tlie  mountain,  wild  and  bare, 

Away  from  tlie  tender  sheplierd's  care, 
Out  in  tiie  desert  lie  heard  its  cry, 
Sick  and  helpless,  and  ready  to  die." 

Elizabeth  Clephane. 

The  following  afternoon  Jennie  Foster  and'  Mr. 
Marsden  called  to  see  Aliena,  whose  strength  had  suc- 
eumhed  to  the  fearful  tax  upon  her  sensibilities  of  late, 
and  she  asked  to  be  excused. 

"  Tell  her  we  have  brought  something  of  hers  we 
found,  that  I  know  she  must  prize.  And  she  will  see 
me  for  a  moment,  I  am  sure,"  Jennie  persisted  in  say- 
ing to  Mauma,  who  had  brought  the  excuse. 

Aliena  wondered,  Avhen  she  received  this  message, 
what  it  could  be  that  Jennie  had  found.  She  could 
think  of  nothing  she  had  lost  except  her  watch,  stolen 
in  Chattanooga.  She  could  scarcely  think  it  possible 
that  it  could  be  that,  but  hoping  that  it  might  be,  she 
consented  to  see  her. 

Jennie,  ushered  by  Mauma,  entered  Aliena's  room 
with  a  beaming  s  nile,  the  picture  of  ruddy  health  and 
animal  spirits^  Seeing  Aliena  lying  upon  the  lounge, 
looking  as  colorless  as  the  white  robe  she  wore,  Jennie's 
expression  changed  as  she  approached  her. 

''  I  am  so  sorry  to  find  you  so  sick.  Miss  Graeme,  but 
I  have  brought  you  something  that  I  hope  will  make 
you  well — for  I  know  you  must  have  been  distressed  at 
losing  it.  Mr.  Marsden  and  I  were  walking  in  the  cem- 
etery, down  by  the  river,  to  see  where  that  awful  mur- 
der was  committed ;  and  right  by  where  the  boat  was 
tied,  I  saw  this  jewel  case  lying.  I  picked  it  up  and 
opened  it,  and  I  knew  it  was  yours  the  minute  I  saw  it. 
I  saw  you  wear  it  at  the-Massey's  party.  I  couldn't 
but  remember  it,  it  is  so  sinorular,  and  beautiful.     Here 


284  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

it  is,"  said  Jennie,  unclasping  the  case  with  evident  grat- 
ification, at  the  pleasure  she  thought  she  was  conferring. 
And  the  glittering  emerald  serpent  was  disclosed  to 
view. 

Aliena,  white  as  she  had  seemed  before,  grew  whiter 
still.  All  color  left  her  lips  even,  as  the  bracelet  was 
disclosed.  Springing  to  a  sitting  posture,  she  clutched 
Jennie's  hand,  gasping  out,  "  Where  is  Major  Baron  ?  " 

"He  came  yesterday  evening.  I  saw  him  when  he 
arrived — but —  " 

''  Where  is  he  ?  where  is  he  now  ?  "  Aliena  gasped, 
pressing  her  hand  to  her  heart  with  a  sharp  pain. 

"  I  don't  know  where  he  went,  he  started  off  on  the 
cars  tliis  morning,"  said  Jennie,  in  evident  bewilderment. 

"  Are  you  certain  ? "  said  Aliena,  feebly,  her  hand 
still  on  her  heart,  which  seemed  to  have  stopped  beat- 
ing in  the  reaction. 

''  Why,  yes,  of  course,  I  am.  I  called  good-bye  to 
him  from  the  gallery,  as  he  was  getting  into  the  carriage. 
Though  I  don't  believe  he  heard  me." 

Aliena  sanl'i,  back  upon  the  lounge,  speechless  for  a 
time.  At  length,  seeing  Jennie's  anxious,  perplexed 
face,  she  said,  ''  You  were  very  kind  to  bring  it  to  me, 
Jennie,  I  am  very  much  obliged,  Don't  think  anything 
of  what  I  do.     I  am  tired  and  sick." 

Jennie  having  rejoined  Mr.  Marsden  in  the  parlor, 
and  started  back  to  the  hotel,  said  "  I  never  saw  any 
one  act  as  curiously  as  Miss  Graeme  did,  when  I  showed 
her  the  bracelet.  Any  one  would  have  thought  it  was 
a  sure  enough  serpent.  She  scared  me.  She  turned  as 
white  as  a  ghost,  and  clutched  at  me  and  asked  '  Where 
is  Major  Baron  ?  '  I  think  she  must  have  been  out  of 
her  head.  I  was  sorry  to  see  her  so  sick.  She  is  such 
a  sweet  young  lady." 

"  She  and  Major  Baron  must  have  had  a  quarrel.  I 
thought  he  was  a  lover  of  hers  from  the  number  of  times 
I  used  to  see  him  coming  into  the  Campus.  He  went 
off  without  telling  her  good-bye,  I  suppose." 


THE  FEET  OF  CJLA  Y.  ^  285 

"  I  would  n't  break  my  heart,  if  any  man  chose  to 
treat  me  that  way,"  said  Jennie. 

"  I  have  no  idea  you  would,"  said  Mr.  Marsden  dryly, 
and  entering  the  hotel  Jennie's  vigorous  voice  could 
soon  be  heard  singing  the  inevitable  six  verses  of  Lorena, 
with  unflagging  interest. 

Notwithstanding  Jennie's  assurance  as  to  Major 
Baron's  departure  on  the  cars,  Aliena  sent  to  make  in- 
quiries as  to  whether  he  had  actually  gone,  which  was 
confirmed;  and  as  to  his  destination,  which  was  found 
to  be  Richmond.  The  following  day  she  sent  the  brace- 
let to  a  friend  of  her  father  in  Richmond,  with  the 
request  that  he  should  see  ^lajor  Baron  and  deliver  it 
in  person,  and  let  her  know  of  its  safe  delivery. 

The  pain  which  Aliena  had  endured  in  having  been 
impelled  to  say  what  she  had  done  in  her  interview 
with  Major  Baron  seemed  more  endurable  now,  in  the 
face  of  the  greater  agony  she  felt  she  had  escaped  since 
her  apprehension  of  his  suicide. 

That  evening  Aliena  sought  consolation  in  the  chapel 
service,  which  Avas  conducted  by  Dr.  Haydon.  His 
remarks  were  intended  to  strengthen  faith  in  prayer. 
It  seemed  to  Aliena  that  her  heart  had  never  gone'^out 
before  with  such  earnestness  in  supplication  to  God,  and 
in  fervent  thanksgiving  for  deliverance  from  the  torture 
which  ]Major  Baron's  death  would  have  caused  her. 

As  the  congregation  slowly  left  the  chapel  Dr.  Haydon 
approached  Aliena,  and  taking  her  hand,  said  in  his 
fatherly  wa}',  ''  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  my  daughter.  I 
have  not  seen  you  as  often  of  late  as  I  would  like ;  but 
my  health  and  the  infirmities  of  age  cut  me  off  from 
many  privileges.-  It  seems  to  me  that  you  are  looking 
paler  than  when  I  saw  you  last.  I  would  like  to  talk 
with  you,  and  the  drive  might  do  you  good.  Won't 
you  get  in  with  me  and  let  us  drive  around  for  a  while." 

Aliena,  feeling  that  a  conversation  with  this  godly, 
old  man  might  fit  her  better  to  bear  the  troubles  that 
w^eighed  upon  her,  accepted  his  invitation. 


286  ''^HE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  My  daughter,"  said  Dr.  Haydon,  as  they  drove  on, 
"  I  am  too  familiar  with  the  trials  of  life,  and,  as  a  pas- 
tor, with  the  hearts  of  those  over  whom  God  has  seen 
fi^  to  place  me  as  a  spiritual  guide,  not  to  know  from 
your  face  that  you  have  been,  and  are  still  suffering 
with  some  sore  trouble.  I  do  not  ask  your  confidence, 
my  daughter,  unless  3'ou  feel  that  you  would  find  com- 
fort in  it.  But  I  hope  I  shall  never  live  to  be  so  old- 
as  to  be  insensible  to  tlie  pain  to  which  the  acute  sensi- 
bilities of  youth  makes  the  young  especially  liable.  My 
greater  experience  may  help  me  to  throw  some  light, 
however,  upon  a  pathAvay  necessarily  dark  and  beset 
Avith  thorns  at  times,  that  we  may  be  recalled  to  the 
remembrance  that  this  is  not  our  abiding  place.  It 
grieves  my  heart  to  see  these  thorns  pierce  and  wound. 
But  so  it  needs  must  be  m}-  child.  But  if  God  should 
grant  me  the  power  to  assist  the  torn  and  bruised  ones 
along  the  path  of  life,  it  will  be  worth  the  while  for  me 
to  carry  the  burden  of  age  and  infirmity  a  little  longer. 
You  believe,  of  course,  my  daughter,  in  the  over-ruling 
hand  of  Providence,  that  nothing  has  or  can  happen 
without  divine  permission — that  the  same  God  who 
made  you,  rules  over,  preserves  aud  protects  you ;  not 
only  in  the  great  events  iu  life,  but  that  the  very  hairs 
of  your  head  are  numbered?  Can  you  not  then  trust, 
not  only  his  infinite  wisdom  and  power,  but  his  infinite 
tenderness  and  love  ?  And  believe  that  however  dark 
his  Providence  may  seem,  he  carries  3'ou,  as  a  tender 
shepherd,  in  the  arms  of  his  love.  That  'as  a  father  pit- 
ieth  his  children  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him,' 
that  '  he  do^s  not  willingly  atfiict  the  children  of  men,' 
that  '  though  for  the  present  your  afflic4:ion  seems  griev- 
ous, afterward  it  yield etli  the  peaceable  fruit  of  right- 
eousness,' and  that  though  ye  have  lain  among  the  pots, 
yet  shall  ye  be  as  the  wings  of  a  dove  covered  with  sil- 
ver, and  her  feathers  with  yellow  gold." 

"It  is  hard  to  realize    alwa3-s,  father,"  said  Aliena., 
"  that  affliction  is  sent  by  God,  and  it  is  harder  to  en- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  287 

dure  those  we  think  \\q  may  have  brought  upon  our- 
selves." 

"  My  daughter,  all  affliction  is  permitted  by  God,  but 
if  you  have  done  evil  in  his  sight,  remember  that  he  is 
not  only  willing  to  forgive,  but  that  he  stands  at  the 
door  and  knocks,  importuning  to  be  let  in.  '  Open  to 
me  my  beloved,  for  my  head  is  filled  with  dew,  and  my 
locks  with  the  drops  of  the  night.'  " 

"  Dr.  Haydon,"  said  Aliena,  with  evident  emotion, 
"  could  it  ever  be  right  to  do  wliat  you  bdieved  Avrong 
for  yourself ;  if  that  wrong  were  apparently  necessary  for 
the  good  of  another  ?  " 

"  My  daughter,  God's  word  is  explicit.  Every  sin 
deserves  the  wrath  and  curse  of  God.  We  are  respon- 
sible to  Him,  for  our  own  souls,  and,  though  we  must 
certainly  place  no  snare  in  the  way  of  any  of  God's 
creatures,  yet  we  must  deliberately,  and  prayerfully  do 
what  we  believe  right  for  ourselves,  before  God,  and 
leave  the  issue  calmly  and  trustfully  with  Him.  We 
cannot,  we  have  no  right  to  hope  for  blessing,  either  for 
ourselves  or  for  others,  if  we  swerve  from  what  we  be- 
lieve to  be  right,  according  to  the  best  light  God  has 
given  us.  And  doing  this  we  must  believe  and  trust  that 
his  infinite  love  and  his  infinite  wisdom  will  make  it  work 
for  good  to  all  in  the  end.  It  will  save  you  many  a  pang, 
my  daughter,  if  you  will  carry  in  mind  a  thought  of 
which  young  persons,  in  the  presumptuous  idea  of  their 
own  power  and  responsibility,  are  apt  to  lose  sight.  'It 
is  that  we  are  very  weak,  finite  creatures,  and  that  Qod 
is  infinitely  capable  of  controlling  and  governing  all  his 
creatures,  and  all  their  actions.  And  that  when  we 
have  done  as  nearly  as  possible  what  we  believe  to 
be  right,  we  have  nothing  more  to  do  but  calmly  to 
rest  in  liis  arms,  and  leave  the  issue  with  Him,  feeling 
that  we  can  lie  trustingly  in  the  arms  of  our  Heavenly 
Father,  knowing  that  we  are  not  left  to  blind  chance, 
but  that  He  who  rules  over  us  will  carry  us  tenderly 
through  all  the    trials  of  life,  bringing  us  not  only  a 


288  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

precious  calm  in  this  life,  like  that  which  Jesus  brought 
to  the  tempest-tossecl  disciples  upon  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
but  an  abundant  entrance  into  that  upper  kingdom, 
where  there  is  joy  forever  more." 

"  Will  you  pray,  my  dear  father,  that  I  may  find  this 
calm  ?  "  said  Aliena  in  a  voice  subdued  by  reverence  for 
the  godly  man  and  for  the  great  truths  he  so  tenderly 
inculcated  ;  which  already  seemed  to  bring  a  foretaste 
of  the  calm  she  invoked. 

"•I  will  cer^inly  remember  you,  my  daughter,  in  my 
prayers,  and  may  God  grant,  you  now  that  peace  which 
passeth  all  understanding,  and  an  abundant  entrance  to 
his  Heavenly  Kingdom  heieafter,"  said  Dr.  Ha3'don, 
as  Aliena  left  him  at  the  Cam23us  gate  ;•  calmed  and 
strengthened  for  what  might  be  before  her  in  the  dark 
future. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

"  Have  we  not  heard  the  brideerroom  is  so  sweet, 
O  let  us  iu,  tho'  late,  to  kiss  his  feet ! 
No,  uo,  too  late  !  ye  cauuot  enter  now. 
No  light,  so  late !  and  dark  and  chill  the  night, 
O  let  us  in,  that  we  may  find  the  light  ? 
Too  late,  too  late ;  ye  cannot  enter  now." 

Teknyson  :  Idyls  of  a  King. 

Zara,  having  called  to  see  Major  Baron,  unsuccess- 
ful]^%  at  the  hotel  in  Montgomery,  as  we  have  seen  ; 
after  leaving  the  message  with  Auguste,  asking  him  to 
call  and  see  her,  with  directions  where  he  might  l^nd 
her,  went  away.  In  her  sore  disappointment,  she  wan- 
dered from  street  to  street,  with  the  vague  hope  of 
meeting  him. 

She  did  catch  sight  of  him,  at  length,  in  her  foot-sore 
wandering.  Fearing  his  disapprobation  should  she 
obtrude  upon  him  thus  publicly  she  hesitated,  caught 
his  eye  fixed  for  a  moment  upon  her,  his  face  blanching 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  289 

at  the  sight,  when  turning  abruptly,  he  hurried  from 
her. 

Thus  abandoned,  chilled  by  the  knowledge  that  he 
avoided  her,  she  returned,  tired  and  utterly  dispirited, 
to  the  dingy,  obscure  boarding-house  where  she  had 
found  refuge.  Here  she  shut  herself  in  her  dismal, 
cramped  room,  made  more  unsightly  by  its  furnishing. 

In  one  corner  of  the  room  was  a  narrow  bed,  with  a 
blue  and  yellow  checked  homespun  coverlet  and  one 
scant  pillow.  In  the  center  of  the  bare,  stained  floor 
stood  a  small,  rickety,  ink-stained  table  ;  upon  which 
was  a  brass  candlestick,  covered  with  the  tallow  spnt- 
terings  and  with  verdigris,  containing  a  short  piece  of 
tallow  dip.  The  patched  window  was  without  curtain. 
Hung  from  a  nail  against  the  discolored  wall  was  a 
small  looking-glass,  which  had  the  faculty  of  distorting 
to  hideous  deformity  the  most  beautiful  features ;  this, 
with  two  dilapidated  chairs,  completed  the  furnishing. 

Here  she  passed  the  dreary  hours  of  the  night. 
With  the  morning  grown  more  hopeful,  Zara  made  her 
baby  as  attractive  as  possible,  and  with  womanly  in- 
stinct, doing  the  same  for  herself,  she  sat  watching  and 
waiting.     But  Major  Baron  did  not  come. 

The  only  window  to  her  room  had  a  dismal  outlook 
upon  the  small  back  yard.  Through  the  patched  panes 
of  glass  she  could  see  in  this  unsightly  rear  unseemly 
piles  of  potato  peelings,  Qgg  shells,  coffee-grounds,  feath- 
ers and  ashes.  In  a  low  spot  which  had  become  a  re- 
ceptacle for  slops  and  garbage  from  the  kitchen,  some 
ducks  paddled  and  sputtered  delightedly. 

An  aged,  mongrel  yellow  dog,  blind  in  one  eye,  tall 
and  gaunt,  and  without  hair  in  spots,  moved  listlessly 
around,  dragging  himself  through  the  filth  watching 
lazily  for  the  appearance  of  an  unctuous-looking  black 
woman,  who  emerged  from  the  Plutonian  region  of  the 
odorous,  smoky  cellar  kitchen  with  a  tin  pan  in  her 
hand  full  of  garbage,  which  she  scraped  with  a  venge- 
ful air  into  the  reeking  puddle. 

19 


290  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

The  drake  and  the  mongrel,  making  a  simultaneous 
rush  for  spoils,  fought  it  out  here,  while  the  ducks  got 
away  with  the  garbage. 

Mrs.  Stokes,  the  proprietor  of  this  establishment,  was 
a  brawny,  big-boned,  red-faced  woman,  with  carroty  red 
hair.  The  sleeves  of  her  homespun  dress  were  rolled 
up  above  her  elbows  and  displayed  the  muscular  develop- 
ment of  her  great,  sun-burned  arms.  The  skirt  of  her 
dingy  dress  was  short  enough  not  to  impede  the  ener- 
getic movement  of  her  large  feet  and  brawny  ankles. 

She  made  violent  sorties  at  intervals  into  the  back- 
yard, seizing  sticks  of  wood  from  the  disorderly  pile, 
and  rushing  back  into  the  kitchen  as  though  the  mild- 
est object  she  had  in  view  was  the  braining  some  victim 
for  a  holocaust. 

Emerging  again  with  great  slices  of  meat  in  her 
hand,  as  if  flayed  alive  from  the  expiring  victim,  she 
pounded  maliciously  upon  them  with  a  cleaver  or  axe 
on  a  block  used  for  that  purpose ;  the  blood  spattering 
her  with  each  blow,  and  disappeared  again  with  un- 
daunted will  and  energy  into  the  dismal  regions  of  the 
kitchen,  from  whence  denser  volumes  of  smoke  issued 
as  the  sputtering  of  grease  and  sizzing  of  frying  meat 
went  on. 

In  her  forlorn,  depressed  condition,  Zara  was  insen- 
sibly wrought  upon  by  these  surroundings.  And  thus 
the  day  dragged  its  weary  length  along,  and  still  Major 
Baron  did  not  come. 

Night  came  at  last.  Worn  with  waiting,  watching 
and  anxiety,  she  could  endure  the  suspense  no  longer. 
Laying  her  sleeping  baby  from  her  arms,  she  ventured 
again  to  seek  Major  Baron.  With  what  success  we  may 
know,  as  it  was  about  this  hour  that  he  was  pleading  his 
cause  so  passionately  with  Aliena. 

Zara,  after  subjecting  herself  to  prying  eyes,  signifi- 
cant glances,  and  whispered  comment,  learned,  in  answer 
to  her  questions,  that  Major  Baron  had  gone — taken  the 
cars  eastward  for  some  unknown  point. 


THE 'FEET  OF  CLAY.  291 

Leaving  the  hotel — wretclied,  forlorn,  forsaken — she 
wandered  aimlessly  and  recklessly  on,  regardless  of 
direction,  along  the  streets.  She  passed  groups  of  men 
who  sometimes  turned  to  stare  curiously  at  the  beauti- 
ful, wild-eyed  girl ;  or  a  woman,  leaning  upon  the  arm  of 
her  husband,  who  gathered  her  skirts  closer  to  her  side 
as  she  passed ;  or  a  Christian  mother,  who  looked  with 
pitying  eyes  upon  the  despairing  wanderer,  saying  in 
her  heart,  "  B}'  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am." 

But  none  of  these  things  consciously  moved  Zara  now. 
She  was  too  absorbed  in  her  own  misery.  In  tr3-ing  to 
work  out  from  the  chaos  of  her  mind  something — any- 
thing upon  which  to  build  a  hope  for  the  future. 

Passing  under  a  gas-light,  she  was  startled  by  the 
voice  of  a  drunken  man,  who  exclaimed,  ''  That 's  a 
d — d  tempting  little  picture,  Tom,  I  would  n't  mind 
kissing  those  pretty  lips." 

Zara  glanced  in  affright,  with  startled  eyes,  at  the 
insolent,  staring  man,  and  hurried  on.  Becoming  con- 
scious at  length  that  she  had  wandered  far  out  of  her 
direction,  she  found  that  she  must  inquire  of  some  one. 
Seeing  a  plain,  fatherly-looking  old  man,  with  a  basket 
of  provisions  upon  his  arm,  she  ventured  to  ask,  in  her 
low,  musical  voice,  for  direction. 

As  the  old  man  kindly  gave  the  desired  information, 
she  heard  the  same  voice  that  had  startled  her  before, 
and  turning  nervously,  again  caught  sight  of  the  brutal, 
staring,  drunken  face.  Alarmed,  she  hurried  on.  Out 
of  breath  and  exhausted,  at  length,  looking  around 
without  seeing  the  man,  she  ventured  to  walk  more 
slowly  until  she  reached  the  dingy  house  she  was  seek- 
ing. 

Groping  her  way  through  the  narrow,  dark  hall  to 
her  room,  she  felt  in  the  darkness  for  matches,  but 
could  find  none.  Instinctively  feeling  to  know  if  her 
baby  were  safe  upon  the  bed,  she  sat  down,  leaning  her 
head  on  her  clasped  hands  upon  the  side  of  the  bed ; 
and  gave  herself  up  to  her  benumbing  misery. 


292  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Becoming  conscious  at  length  that  the  darkness 
weighed  upon  and  oppressed  her,  adding  to  her  wretch- 
edness, she  took  the  candlestick  in  her  hand  and  went 
out  through  the  dark  hall  into  the  back  yard,  hoping  to 
get  a  light. 

Here  she  could  see  a  feeble,  flickering  light,  coming 
from  the  cellar  kitchen.  Hearing  voices  there,  she 
moved  on.  But  catching  sight  of  the  dread,  loud- 
mouthed Mrs.  Stokes,  Zara,  with  instinctive  fear,  shrank 
back. 

This  muscular,  red-faced  woman  was  wielding  what 
seemed  to  Zara  an  immense  beef  bone,  eyeing  it  to  see 
if  any  meat  remained  upon  it,  as  she  gave  her  orders 
for  the  morning  to  her  sub-cook.  "  Take  this  and  chop 
it  up  fine  with  them  cold  pertaters,  and  pieces  of  cold 
pork  that  you  biled  with  them  greens,  and  them  scraps 
of  bread,  and  pour  the  soup  that  was  left  over  them, 
and  make  a  hash  for  breakfast,"  she  Avas  saying. 

Zara  at  last  catching  the  eye  of  the  dread  woman 
fixed  upon  her,  fearing  either  to  retreat  or  to  come  for- 
ward, yet  advanced  to  the  door,  saying  timidly  : 

"  I  came  for  a  light,  will  you  please  let  me  light  my 
candle  ?  " 

Hesitating  to  enter,  she  cast  her  eyes  wistfully  at  what 
constituted  the  light  of  this  gloomy  region,  a  skillet 
with  a  piece  of  burning  rag,  which,  hanging  over  the 
side,  served  as  a  wick,  but  scarcely  made  darkness 
visible. 

''  Well,  why  don't  yer  come  along  in  and  light  yer 
candle.  Nobody  ain't  a  henderin3^ou,  I  reckon.  What 
are  you  skeered  of?  "  said  Mrs.  Stokes  in  a  voice  which 
added  to  Zara's  fears.  It,  like  her  appearance,  being 
much  more  that  of  a  man  than  a  woman. 

But  the  thick-lipped,  flat-nosed  black  woman  evi- 
dently compassionating  the  timid,  beautiful  girl,  lifted 
the  skillet  by  its  long  handle  and  moved  forward  to 
proffer  her  a  light.  Making  it  flicker  and  flame  as  she 
moved  on,  giving  a  more  weird  look  to  the  dismal  place, 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  293 

over  which  she  seemed  a  fit  presiding  genius,  crowned 
as  she  was  with  her  big-flowered  scarlet  and  yellow 
head-handkerchief. 

Zara,  looking  the  more  beautiful  from  the  contrast 
with  her  surroundings,  now  timidly  held  out  her  candle 
and  lit  it.  And  thanking  the  woman,  instinctively  she 
returned  to  her  room. 

Here  she  sat  down  once  more  by  the  bedside.  It  was 
useless  for  her  to  try  to  sleep.  Her  mind  was  too  busy 
with  the  memories  and  miseries  of  the  past.  Her  love 
— her  downfall — her  father's  death — her  wild  delirium 
— the  dismal  cell — her  trial — her  cruel  desertion — and 
now — 

The  short  piece  of  tallow  dip  Mrs.  Stokes  had  allowed 
her  had  burned  down  ;  it  flared  and  flickered,  flared  and 
flickered,  more  and  more  faintly,  like  the  hope  dying  in 
Zara's  heart.  It  went  out.  She  heard  nothing  now, 
but  the  yeowing  and  spitting  of  some  cats  in  the  back 
yard. 

This  was  the  same  night  in  which  Major  Baron  was 
suffering  the  tortures  of  the  damned,  under  the  shadows 
in  that  dire  spot  in  the  cemetery.  It  may  have  been 
that  some  inscrutable,  subtile  bond,  grown  out  of  their 
love,  still  held  her  in  sympathy  with  him. 

She  could  not  rest.  She  must  move.  She  got  up  and 
groped  her  way  out  into  the  street.  She  moved  up  and 
down  before  the  house,  in  the  dim  moon-light — with  her 
hands  clasped  before  her.  Kept  vibrating  like  the  nee- 
dle to  the  pole — swinging  off,  but  coming  back  magnet- 
ically to  her  child. 

Suddenly  an  arm  was  thrown  around  her,  and  the 
same  brutal,  drunken  voice  that  had  already  frightened 
her,  drawing  her  to  him,  exclaimed,  *'  Kiss  me,  my  pretty 
dear." 

Writhing  from  his  grasp,  with  the  look  of  a  wounded, 
hunted  fawn,  she  sprang  away  from  him,  running,  pant- 
ing with  aflright,  into  the  house,  gladly  encountering 
even  the  dread  Mrs.  Stokes  in  her  flight.     Here  she  sank 


294  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T, 

into  a  chair  over  which  she  had  stumbled  in  the  dark- 
ness. Mrs.  Stokes  standing  in  the  doorway,  where  she 
had  encountered  Zara,  put  her  arms  akimbo  in  righteous 
horror  and  indignation  and  exclaimed: 

^'  Well  I  I  thought  you  was  in  bed  and  asleep  long 
ago.  I  hadn't  no  idee  that  I  was  a  takin'  in  the  likes  o' 
this  inter  a  decent,  respectable  house.  Lookee  here 
now,  mum,  you  jest  take  that  brat  o'  yourn,  and  you 
tramp.  This  house  ain't  intended  tor  sich  as  you,  I  'd 
haye  you  to  know." 

"  Please,  ma'am,  I — "  began  Zara. 

"  None  of  your  please  mums  to  me,"  interrupted  the 
loud-mouthed  woman,  who  had  no  idea  of  compromis- 
ing. ''  You  jest  do  as  I  say,  and  powerful  quick,  too, 
or  I  '11  see  if  there  aint  a  way  to  make  you,"  and  she 
opened  the  door  of  a  room  in  which  there  was  a  candle 
burning,  took  it  up,  and  returning,  advanced  menacingly 
toward  Zara. 

The  girl  cowered,  tremblingly,  before  the  big-boned, 
muscular  woman ;  who  raised  her  voice  and  her  fist  at 
the  same  time,  saying  : 

••'  Now  I  don't  want  to  have  no  sass,  nor  no  row  with 
you,  or  I  '11  have  you  whisked  off  to  jail  before  you  can  say 
Jack  Robberson.  But  you  jest  git  up  from  there  and 
take  that  brat  o'  yourn,  and  you  tramp." 

The  big  tears  were  rolling  down  the  wan  face  of  the 
driven  girl.  Beset  by  fears  of  the  threatening  woman 
within  the  house,  and  of  the  brutal,  drunken  man  with- 
out. Followed  by  Mrs.  Stokes,  Zara  re-entered  her 
room.  Regardless  now  of  everything  else  except  her 
child,  she  took  it  in  her  arms,  wailing  at  being  aroused 
from  sleep,  and,  still  followed  by  the  red-faced  woman, 
went  out  into  the  street,  hearing  the  door  locked  and 
bolted  behind  her. 

Looking  fearfully  up  and  down  the  street,  she  thought 
she  saw  the  same  drunken  man  moving  toward  her. 
And  turning  in  the  opposite  direction,  she  ran  until  she 
no  longer  had  strength  to  do  so,  meeting  only  one  per- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  295 

son  in  her  flight — a  man  who  turned  and  looked  pity- 
ingly after  her,  saying  : 

"Poor  fallen  creature,  let  her  go.  I  shall  certainly 
not  assist  in  arresting  her." 

She  walked  on  more  slowly  now,  knowing  that  there 
was  nothing  for  her  to  do,  at  this  hour  of  the  night, 
under  the  suspicious  circumstances,  but  to  move  on. 
No  other  door  she  could  wish  to  enter,  was  more  open 
to  her  now  than  Mrs.  Stokes'. 

She  passed  a  brilliantly  lighted,  gilded  room,  whose 
doors  were  wide  open.  Splendid  gilded  frames  of  mir- 
rors, and  of  sensuous  pictures  showed  above  the  screens 
fronting  the  door.  Behind  these  she  heard  the  clicking 
of  glasses,  and  the  sound  of  oaths.  Footsteps  moving 
toward  the  door,  she  hastened  on,  meeting  a  painted, 
bedizened  woman,  who  went  in  there. 

She  passed  another  house — "  the  way  to  hell," — from 
within  whose  walls  came  the  sound  of  revelry.  The 
door  opened  and  closed  mysteriously  upon  those  who 
entered  there,  giving  glimpses  also  of  gilded  splendor. 

Only  the  doors  to  sin  seemed  open  now. 

Sinking  exhausted,  at  length,  upon  a  door-step,  Zara 
tried  to  arouse  her  benumbed  consciousness  to  the  re- 
membrance that  there  was  something  for  her  to  love  in 
her  arms — something  to  live  for.  But  she  was  too 
stunned  and  weary  now  to  feel  any  well-spring  of  life, 
of  love,  or  of  hope  from  the  poor  little  unwelcome  waif 
she  carried  in  her  arms. 

Worn  out,  her  head  drooped  at  last.  Exhausted  in 
body  and  mind,  she  slept.  Only  for  an  instant.  Star- 
tled by  voices  and  steps,  she  sprang  up.  Worn  as  she 
was,  she  hastened  on  again.  Conscious  that  she  was 
followed,  she  tried  to  run.     She  was  past  that  now. 

Unexpectedly,  she  came  in  sight  of  the  river.  At 
sight  of  the  water  a  sudden  longing  seized  her.  She 
longed  to  rest  under  its  hiding,  oblivious  waves.  To  be 
haunted  by  sorrow  and  sin  no  more.  To  be  hunted  and 
driven  no  longer. 


296  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

Urged  by  the  footsteps  behind  her,  she  moved  on. 
She  found  herself  upon  the  bank  of  the  river.  A  great 
cavernous  saw-mill,  with  its  black,  mystenous  vaults, 
peopled  with  horrors  by  her  excited  imagination,  was 
before  her.     By  its  side  lay  a  raft  of  logs. 

She  sped  on.  Led  by  a  strange  fascination  ;  possibly 
that  of  a  stronger  will  acting  with  inexplicable  power 
upon  her.  She  looked  back  once  more.  Affrighted  at 
seeing  the  forms  of  the  two  men  outlined  black  against 
the  sky  upon  the  bank  above  her,  like  a  hunted  fawn 
she  fled,  on,  down — down  to  the  brink  of  the  river — 
out  upon  the  raft. 

Tightening  the  clasp  with  which  she  held  her  baby 
to  her  breast,  she  gave  a  leap  into  the  black  water. 
She  went  down  and  the  waves  closed  over  them.  Pos- 
sibly it  may  have  been  at  the  same  moment  that  another 
culprit,  aftrighted  at  the  hell  before  him,  turned  and 
rowed  vigorously  back  to  shore. 

"  My  God !  Selwyn,"  exclaimed  Colonel  Bond,  "  the 
woman  is  drowning,  she  has  jumped  into  the  river," 
and  rushing  on,  disencumbering  himself  as  he  went,  he 
plunged  into  the  water. 

Zara  had  sunk  and  risen  once,  before  Colonel  Bond 
could  get  to  where  she  had  leaped  in.  As  she  rose  a 
second  time,  she  had  been  carried  by  the  current  be- 
yond his  reach,  and  again  she  went  down  before  he 
could  swim  to  her.  Allowing  now  for  the  current,  he 
caught  her  as  she  rose  the  third  time,  and,  supporting 
her,  the  child  still  clasped  in  her  arms,  he  with  difficulty 
swam  to  the  shore. 

Everything  possible  was  done  to  resuscitate  the 
mother  and  child.  But  it  was  without  avail.  It  was 
too  late.  Life  was  extinct.  And  Colonel  Bond  and 
Mr.  Selwyn,  having  consigned  the  bodies  to  the  proper 
authorities,  walked  slowly  and  sadly  homeward,  as  the 
day  was  dawning.  Feeling  that  what  they  had  intended 
in  kindness,  had  possibly  hurried,  instead  of  prevent- 
ing the  tragic  result. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T,  297 

CHAPTER  LIL 

"  I  did  di-eara 
That  I  had  murdered  her.'    'Tis  false,  't  was  but 
A  dream,  think  you  that  I  shall  not  believe 
Mine  eyes  before  your  tongue  ?     But  there  she  is." 

Shakspeaee. 

In  the  morning,  before  a  jury  could  be  summoned, 
and  that  inevitable  horror,  an  inquest  gone  through 
with,  thronging  crowds  came,  with  prjdng  eyes,  to 
satiate  their  morbid  curiosity,  with  the  mournful  sight 
of  the  unknown,  friendless  girl,  and  of  the  child  still 
folded  in  the  clasp  of  death. 

In  all  this,  thronging  crowd  none  could  give  a  clew 
to  the  identity  of  the  beautiful  young  creature  lying 
there. 

Colonel  Bond  and  Mr.  Selw3'n  appeared  before  the 
coroner's  jury  to  give  their  testimony  as  to  her  death. 
They  stated  that  they  had  been  to  a  card  party  and 
were  going  ho-me  late,  and  coming  upon  her  seated  upon 
a  door-step,  her  sudden  movement,  and  wild  furtive 
manner,  with  her  taking  the  direction  tow^ardthe  river 
had  aroused  their  fears.  That  following  her,  they  had 
witnessed,  instead  of  preventing  the  act  they  had  feared. 

Searching  the  body  for  some  clew  for  identification, 
a  gold  locket  was  found,  secreted  from  view,  suspended 
around  her  neck.  In  this  was  enclosed  a  small  photo- 
graphed likeness  of  a  soldier  in  the  confederate  uniform. 
In  the  same  locket  lay  a  ring  of  brown  hair,  tied  with 
a  faded  blue  ribbon,  and  with  it  a  blurred  note. 

The  crowd  struggled  for  a  view  of  these  articles  as 
they  were  disclosed. 

''  It 's  a  Confederate  Major,  and  a  devilish  good  look- 
ing fellow  at  that,  though  the  picture  is  blurred  some, 
by  the  water,"  said  one  of  the  jurors. 

"  Zara  Varga,  that  is  the  address  on  the  note,  I  be- 
lieve. That  must  be  the  woman's  name.  Let 's  see 
what  is  inside,"  said  the  coroner,  and  he  began  to  study 


298  THE  FEET  OF  CZA  T. 

that  out.  "  It  is  signed  C,  nothing  more.  C  ? — what 
does  C  stand  for,  I  wonder?" 

^'  C  ?  C  stands  for  cruelty,  cowardice,  and  crime," 
said  some  one  in  the  crowd. 

Mr.  Selwyn,  elboAving  his  way,  at  length  got  near 
enough  to  catch  sight  of  the  picture.  "  My  God !  It's 
Bar — "  he  exclaimed. 

But  Colonel  Bond,  who  had  also  been  endeavoring  to 
get  a  sight  at  these  articles,  discerning  who  it  was, 
pulled  Mr.  Selwyn  violently  by  the  coat,  thus  attract- 
ing his  attention,  and  stopping  this  speech. 

"  Who  did  yoii  say  it  was  ?  "some  one  in  the  crowd 
asked  eagerly,  but  received  no  reply,  another  said, 

"  I  believe  them  men  know  mor  'n  they  let  on." 

"I  never  saw  or  heard  of  this  girl,  until  I  saw  her  on 
the  door-steps  just  before  she  jumped  into  the  river," 
said  Mr.  Selwyn  in  such  a  tone  that  no  one  ventured  to 
say  more. 

Colonel  Bond  sought  an  opportunity  to  speak  pri- 
vately with  the  officer,  who  had  these  relics  in  charge, 
and  said  to  him,  "  You  know  there  is  no  law  to  punish 
the  driving  of  a  woman  to  suicide.  And  it  might  be 
worth  your  while  to  keep  that  note  and  picture  private, 
until  you  hear  from  me  again." 

The  man  nodded  knowingly,  and  Colonel  Bond  re- 
joined Mr.  Selwyn,  whom  he  found  gazing  at  the  bodies 
with  an  expression  as  fall  of  wrath  as  of  commisera- 
tion. 

*'  Hanging  is  too  good  for  that  infernal  scoundrel," 
said  the  indignant  Mr.  Selwyn  as  they  walked  away. 

"  Don't  fly  off  the  helve  that  way  Selwyn.  Give  a^ 
fellow  a  chance.  Don't  condemn  Baron  until  you  hear 
him. 

^'  Hear  him  ?  Hear  the  devil !  did  n't  you  see  that 
writing  and  his  picture?  And  didn't  3^ou  see  the  like- 
ness in  that  chikl  ?  I  have  always  heard  that  likeness 
came  out  after  death,  but  I  never  saw  anything  to  equal 
that.     It  was  wonderful." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  299 

^'  Maybe  the  girl  was  some  kin  of  his,"  suggested  the 
kincl-hetirted  Colonel  Bond. 

"Kin?  tlie  devil!  That  child  was  kin.  And  very 
near  kin  too.  Just  let  me  hear  of  that  infernal  scoun- 
dreFs  coming  near  Lil  again  and  I 'llmake  food  for 
fishes,  or  worms  of  him.     D — d  if  I  don't." 

Mrs.  Stokes,  going  to  market  in  the  morning,  and 
hearing  of  the  tragedy  of  the  night  before,  had  some  fee- 
ble tiickeringsof  compunctious  thought  to  flit  momenta- 
rily across  her  mind.  The  possibility  of  her  having  had 
some  instrumentality  in  this  tragic  event  occurred  to  her 
and  she  concluded  to  satisfy  her  curiosity.  Joining  in 
with  the  streaming  crowd  she  went  to  look  at  the  dead 
woman  and  child,  to  assure  herself  as  to  whether  or  not 
it  were  Zara. 

Even  this  callous  woman  started  back  with  horror  as 
she  recognized  in  the  beautiful  face  of  the  dead,  that 
of  the  frail  girl  she  had  so  pitilessly  driven  from  her 
door  the  night  before.  A  slight  pang  troubled  even 
her  hardened  conscience,  as  she  thought  that  she  had 
aided  in  hounding  this  forlorn  3'oung  creature  on  to  her 
death.  fiut  the  comforting  thought  as  quickly  sug- 
gested itself  that  she  could  now  safely  appropriate  what- 
ever the  girl  had  left  in  her  house.  Her  greed  crowd- 
ing out  the  less  agreeable  thoughts  of  the  wan,  pitiful 
face,  the  streaming  eyes,  and  the  pleading  words  of  the 
forlorn  girl,  as  she  had  shut  her  out,  homeless  and 
friendless,  into  the  dreary  darkness  of  the  streets  that 
night. 

No  one  coming  forward  to  claim  the  body  of  the  out- 
cast girl,  Mrs.  Knowland,  whose  sympathies  had  been 
enlisted  by  the  account  given  by  Mr.  Selwyn  and  Col. 
Bond,  went  with  tender,  pitying  heart  to  see  that  she 
was  decentl}^  interred.  She  arranged,  herself  with  gen- 
tle hand,  the  tangled  masses  of  silky,  waving  hair ;  and 
tried  to  close  the  eyes  no\y  ''  dimly  staring  into  futurity  " 
under  the  long,  black  lashes,  while  she  dropped  tears  of 
womanly  pity  upon  the  still,  cold  forms  of  the  mother 


300  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

and  child  as  they  were  shut  up  forever  from  scoffing 
view,  going  to  see  them  laid  away  in  the  Potter's  Field. 

"  And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the  temple, 
and  departed,  and  went  and  hanged  himself. 

"  And  they  took  counsel  and  bought  with  them  the 
potter's  field,  to  bury  strangers  in." 


CHAPTER  LIIL 

"  I  loved  her,  one 
Not  perfect,  nay,  but  full  of  tender  wants, 
No  angel,  but  a  dearer  beiug,  all  dipt 
In  angel  instincts,  breathing  Paradise 
Interpreter  between  the  gods  and  men." 

Tennyson:  Princess. 

Since  the  evening  when  Dr.  Leigh  had  taken  Aliena 
away  from  the  death-bed  of  the  soldier,  she  had  shrunk 
from  returning  to  her  ministering  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  there.  Not  so  much  from  the  pain  she  en- 
dured herself  as  from  an  apprehension  suggested  by  her 
remembrance  of  Dr.  Leigh's  words  and  manner  upon 
that  occasion. 

Her  present  life  of  inaction  and  uselessness,  hoAvever, 
seemed  unendurable  ;  and  she  eagerly  sought  occupation 
— at  least  for  the  mind — oblivion  to  torturing  thought 
and  memories  in  books.  She  went  therefore  often  to 
the  library.  Here,  in  the  quietude  of  this  comparatively 
deserted  place,  she  endeavored  to  find  the  forgetfulness 
she  had  failed  to  secure  elsewhere. 

Lingering  in  the  Library  one  afternoon,  near  an  ivy- 
draped  window  of  one  of  the  compartments,  endeavor- 
ing to  catch  the  last  lingering  rays  of  light  upon  the 
book  in  which  she  had  become  absorbed,  Aliena  was 
startled  by  the  sound  of  the  low,  clear  voice  of  some 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  301 

one  bending  over  her  who  had  approached  unheeded  as 
she  sat  thus  engrossed. 

"I  am  glad  to  see  you  once  more,  and  to  find  you  so 
pleasantly  absorbed.  You  have  deserted  us  altogether 
lately  at  the  hospital,"  the  firm,  low  voice  said. 

Aliena  knew  the  tones  before  she  turned.  The  sound 
brought  a  flood  of  delicate  color  to  her  face  as,  with  a 
smile  of  pleased  surprise,  she  looked  up  into  Dr.  Leigh's 
eyes  and  said : 

"You  banished  me  yourself,  I  think.  You  could 
scarcely  expect  me  to  return  without  permission." 

Seeing  the  delicate  col©r,  with  the  comparative  repose, 
since  the  time  when  he  had  seen  her  last,  so  painfully 
overcome  by  the  death  of  the  soldier.  Dr.  Leigh  said, 
"I  think  I  can  safel}^  revoke  my  edict  now.  You  can 
no  longer  plead  that  prohibition.  I  owe  it  to  the  suf- 
fering soldiers  in  the  hospital  to  make  the  banishment 
as  short  as  possible.  What  is  it  you  were  reading 
that  absorbed  you  so  as  I  came  in?"  and,  taking  the 
book  from  Aliena's  hand,  he  read  the  heading  of  the 
page,  '''Will  and  Emotion.'  To  what  conclusion  have 
you  come  upon  so  subtle  a  subject?" 

"  That,  like  most  abstract  questions,  it  is  one  upon 
which  it  is  much  easier  to  theorize  than  to  practice  sat- 
isfactorily. I  am  quite  sure  that,  in  spite  of  '  will,'  I 
often  let  '  emotion  '  run  away  with  my  judgment — let 
me  do  all  that  I  can  to  hold  it  in  check,"  said  Aliena. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  you  might  safel}^  give  the  reins 
to  any  emotion  you  are  likely  to  have,  without  appre- 
hension of  wrong,  or  need  for  compunctuous  repining. 
It  is  hard  to  realize  the  possibility  of  your  being  car- 
ried into  debatable  ground  even.  The  making  judg- 
ment issue  the  fiat  is  the  difficult  point  with  me,  how- 
ever. To  will,  that  is  the  point.  There  are  some 
emotions  so  sweet  in  themselves,  and  apparently  so 
heaven-appointed  that  judgment  cannot  decide  to  cru- 
cify them.  Though  like  Phoebus'  champing  horses,  they 
may  threaten  to  get  the  bit  in  their  teeth,  and  to  hurl 


302  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

one  to  destruction  as  surely  as  they  did  his  unfortunate 
son.  Yet  I  am  tempted  at  times  by  the  glorious  vision, 
to  throw  the  reins  as  wildly,  even  if,  like  him,  I  fall 
'from  the  Empyrean -headlong  to  the  gulf.'" 

"I  thought  that  you  were  too  philosophic  ever  to 
allow  yourself  to  be  carried  away  by  emotion,"  said 
Aliena,  faltering  with  embarrassment  as  she  met  Dr. 
Leigh's  passionate  eyes  fixed  upon  her. 

**•  No  man  is  capable,  at  all  times,  of  philosophizing. 
There  are  times  when  '  Will '  is  powerless  to  combat 
'Emotion' — when  it  cannot  prevent  Emotion's  beating 
its  caged  breast  against  the  bars  that  hold  it,  or  hinder 
those  bars  from  wounding  sorely,"  said  Dr.  Leigli  in  a 
voice  vibrant  with  emotion. 

Aliena  raised  her  eyes  to  his  with  a  pleading,  helpless 
look  ;  her  sensitive  mouth  quivering  with  repressed  feel- 
ing. Unable  to  speak,  or  to  control  herself,  she  dropped 
her  face  up  )\\  her  hands,  and  sobbed  convulsively. 

"Aliena,  forgive  me,"  said  Dr.  Leigh,  in  a  voice  full 
of  tenderness,  as  he  bent  over  her.  ''I  was  selfish — 
cruel.  I  thought  only  of  my  own  pain,  while  I  would 
give  my  life  to  protect  you  from  suffering.  But  think 
of  the  hope,  the  despair  I  "suffer.  If  I  have  been  selfish 
and  reckless  it  is  because  I  love  you,  and  I  can  endure 
the  agony  of  suspense  no  longer." 

"  Oh  I  spare  me — spare  me,"  exclaimed  Aliena  in  an 
agonized,  helpless  tone,  looking  up  yearningly,  yet  be- 
seechingh',  into  his  face.  '^  I  find  life  so  hard.  Don't 
make  it  harder  for  me  to  endure,"  and  her  voice  went 
out  in  a  sob. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Aliena?  look  at  me,  tell  me  ?  " 
said  Dr.  Leigh,  taking  both  her  hands  into  his  and  gaz- 
ing eagerly  and  longingly  into  her  tender  tear-moistened 
eyes 

"I  mean  -Oh!  have  mercy  upon  me,  and  help  me 
to  forget,"  she  said  pleadingly,  looking  yearningly  into 
his  face.  And  withdrawing  her  hands  she  hurriedly 
left  the  room. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  303 

Dr.  Leigh  looked  after  her  Avith  an  expression  of  in- 
tensest  pain,  and  of  sore  wonder  at  her  inexplicable 
words  and  conduct.  And  dropping  into  a  chair  he 
gazed  drearily  into  vacancy.  At  length,  as  though 
seeking  some  clew  to  her  words  and  acts,  he  took  up 
the  book  she  had  been  reading  and  opened  it. 

Upon  the  page  where  she  had  read  lay  a  single  shin- 
ing strand  of  her  golden  brown  hair.  He  took  it  up 
and  wound  the  little  coil  about  his  finger,  passing  his 
hand  caressingly  over  it.  Thinking  ''  What  a  strange 
thing  is  the  will  of  man,  when  it  can  be  held  by  a  gy\Q 
no  stronger  than  this." 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

*'  King  Richard. — Where  is  thy  power  then,  to  beat  him  back  ? 

Are  tliey  not  now  upon  tlie  western  shore  ? 
"  Stanley. —  I  '11  muster  up  my  friends  to  meet  your  p:race 

When  and  what  time  your  majesty  shalf  please." 

The  waves  of  that  fearful  storm  that  was  rending  the 
whole  country  had  heretofore  broken  only  in  faint  rip- 
ples upon  the  quiet  little  haven  of  Athens.  But  now 
a  cloud  suddenly  lowered  upon  this  hitherto  clear  hori- 
zon, looming  and  threatening  to  burst  in  fury  upon 
the  place. 

It  was  rumored  fearfully  around  that  a  Federal  raid 
in  progress,  demoralized  by  plunder,  had  been  met  by 
Confederate  troops.  That  turned  aside,  balked  in  their 
design,  hoping  to  reinstate  themselves  in  public  estima- 
mation,  they  were  swooping  down  upon  this  devoted 
place.  Its  undefended  state  making  it  apparently 
easy  prey. 

The  wildest  excitement  prevailed.  Bells  were  rung. 
Tlie  alarm  sounded.  All,  from  a  state  of  seeming  secu- 
rity, were  thrown  into  the  wildest  consternation.     The 


304  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

few  men  left  at  home,  most  of  them  operatives  in  the 
government  factory  for  arms,  set  to  work  with  vigor ; 
improvising  the  best  defense  for  the  place  practicable  in 
this  emergency. 

Couriers  came  and  went.  The  excitement  was  as 
intense  as  it  was  unexpected.  Those  who  Avished  to 
flee  feared  to  do  so  ;  not  knowing  where  they  might  en- 
counter the  enemy.  The  inevitable  morning  of  disas- 
ter, as  it  was  feared,  dawned  upon  the  terror-stricken 
place.  Couriers  announced  the  oncoming  enemy.  Or- 
ders came  to  hold  the  place,  help  was  coming. 

The  sound  of  firing  set  the  nerves  of  those  waiting 
and  watching  in  quivering  motion.  All  feared  for 
homes  and  lives.  The  firing  ceased.  A  terrible  un- 
certainty ensued.  A  courier  with  foaming  horse 
brought  hope.  Soon  the  citizen  guard  appeared.  It 
needed  no  words  to  tell  that  the  danger  was  averted. 

The  victorious  soldiers  who  had  come  to  the  rescue 
had  followed,  overtaken,  routed,  and  made  prisoners 
of  the  plunder-demoralized,  over-burdened  raiders.  The 
victors  soon  appeared.  Men,  women  and  children  sur- 
rounded them  with  every  demonstration  of  jubilant 
joy  and  gratitude. 

Soon  a  feast  was  improvised,  where  every  delicacy 
the  place  could  afford  was  spread  for  the  tired,  liungry 
soldiers.  A  banquet  that  might  have  tempted  Epicu- 
rus himself,  even  without  being  served  as  this  was  by 
fair  women,  radiant  with  grateful  smiles,  whose  delight 
it  was  to  do  them  honor. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  soldiers  the  ample  feast  was 
magnaaimousl}^  shared  with  the  hundreds  of  exhausted 
prisoners,  who  were  gladly  bartering  their  spoils  of 
silver,  gold,  and  jewels  for  food. 

The  joy  of  this  occasion  was  marred  by  but  one 
thought,  that  necessarily  some  must  pay  the  penalty  for 
success  bv  sufferino^.  Wounded  and  dviiio-  soldiers. 
Federal  and  Confederate,  were  being  brought  into  the 
hospitals   to    be    cared  for.     Aliena,  for  the  first  time 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  305 

since  the  evening  when  her  strength  had  been  so  over- 
taxed by  sympathy  for  the  dying  soldier,  now  with  Mrs. 
Layton,  amongst  others,  came  forward  to  minister  to 
the  suffering. 

As  they  were  entering  the  hospital  their  progress  was 
arrested  by  the  slow  tramp  of  men,  bearing  in  npon  a 
litter  a  wounded  man.  Aliena's  face  suddenly  blanched 
as  in  the  apparently  dead  man  before  her  she  recognized 
Colonel  Harvey.  The  men  having  laid  the  insensible 
man  upon  a  couch,  turned  away  to  bring  in  others. 

Alieiia,  seeing  that  he  had  swooned  instead  of  being 
dead,  as  she  had  at  first  feared,  proceeded  to  use  restor- 
atives. And  before  a  surgeon  could  be  had  she  was 
repaid  by  a  return  of  consciousness,  and  a  look  of  grate- 
ful recognition  from  the  wounded  man. 

Dr.  Leigh's  face  lit  up  with  pleasure  as  in  answer  to 
a  summons  he  approached  and  caught  sight  of  Aliena. 
But  when  he  came  near  enough  to  see  the  wounded  man 
he  became  suddenly  scarcely  less  white  than  the  blood- 
less man  before  him.  With  an  evident  eftort  to  over- 
come his  painful  emotion,  he  offered  his  hand  to  Colonel 
Harvey;  who,  scarcely  less  moved,  feebly  extended  his 
hand  to  that  magnanimously  offered.  Aliena,  feeling 
her  presence  no  longer  necessary,  moved  away  to  where 
a  Avounded  Federal  soldier  lay. 

Dr  Leigh  labored  under  a  feeling  of  painful  embar- 
rassment in  being  thus  called  upon  to  minister  to  Colonel 
Harvey.  After  making  the  necessary  examination  of 
the  wound  he  said  with  unusual  hesitancy  of  manner, 
"Colonel  Harvey,  I  must  have  a  consulting  surgeon 
before  acting  in  your  case." 

''  Do  as  you  think  best,"  said  Colonel  Harvey ;  con- 
tinuing with  evident  emotion  and  some  embarrassment, 
'-'-  but  I  wish  you  to  feel  assured  that  I  am  perfectly  sat- 
ished  to  leave  my  case  in  your  hands." 

'^  I  appreciate  your  confidence,  but  I  prefer  a  consult- 
ation for  riiy  own  satisfaction,"  said  Dr.  Leigh. 

He  accordingly  not  only  had  a  consultation  with  one 

20 


306  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

of  the  surgeons,  but  another  was  called  in,  as  he  differed 
from  the  first.  And  it  was  decided  against  Dr.  Leigh's 
judgment  to  ami)utate  the  limb. 

This  decision  having  been  communicated  to  Colonel 
Harvey,  he  asked,  addressing  Dr.  Leigh,  ^'  Do  you  think 
there  is  no  possibility  of  saving  my  leg  ?  " 

Dr.  Leigh  hesitated  to  reply,  but  he  ansAvered  truth- 
fully, "I  thought  there  was  a  possibilitj'  of  saving  it. 
But  as  both  these  gentlemen  think  differently  I  have 
yielded  my  judgment." 

''I  am  willing  to  abide  by  your  judgment  and  take  my 
chances.  Life  will  be  worth  little  to  me  if  I  must  go 
through  it  maimed,"  said  Colonel  Harvey. 

''  I  feel  obliged  to  tell  you,  that  both  these  gentlemen 
think  death  inevitable  without  immediate  ami:>utation," 
said  Dr.  Leigh. 

"  I  am  willing  to  take  my  chances  ;  and  to  assume  the 
whole  responsibility,"  said  Colonel  Harvey  firmly. 

"  A  man  who  can  face  the  chances  for  death  with  such 
nerve  may  come  through,  and  I  say  try  it,"  said  one  of 
the  surgeons.     And  so  it  was  decided. 

For  days  Colonel  Harvey's  life  hung  in  the  balance. 
So  anxiously  did  Dr.  Leigh  watch  the  case  that  he 
scarcely  slept  until  the  crisis  had  passed ;  but  convales- 
cence set  in  and  life  and  limb  were  saved. 

Mrs.  Layton,  who,  with  Aliena,  had  ministered  to 
Colonel  Harvey  at  the  hospital,  now  proposed  that  he 
should  be  removed  to  her  house;  which  was  accord- 
ingly done.  Here  he  was  soon  able,  with  the  aid  of  a 
crutch,  to  walk  the  short  distance  in  the  same  grounds, 
to  where,  in  Aliena's  little  parlor,  she  was  able  to  while 
away  some  of  the  tedious,  weary  hours  of  convalescence 
in  conversation,  reading  and  music  ;  until  he  might 
once  more  be  able  to  return  to  the  field  of  war. 

Dr.  Leigh  continued  his  professional  care  of  Colonel 
Harvey,  even  after  his  removal  from  tlie  hoapitah  Call- 
ing one  evening  and  failing  to  find  him  at  Mrs.  Lay- 


THE  FEET  OF  CZA  Y,  307 

toil's,  at  her  suggestion  he  followed  him  to  Mrs.  Graeme's 
rooms  ill  the  University. 

Both  Aliena  and  Col.  Harvey  were  so  engrossed,  as 
he  was  ushered  in,  that  Dr.  Leigh  stood  unheeded  in  the 
doorway,  acutely  impressed  with  the  scene.  Colonel 
Harvey  was  seated  in  an  easy  chair,  his  limbs  stretched 
out  upon  a  low  ottoman,  which  Aliena  had  arranged  for 
his  comfort,  his  eyes  fastened  upon  her  as  she  sat  at 
the  piano,  singing. 

Colonel  Harvey  had  asked  Aliena  to  sing  "  Savour- 
neen  Delish,"  the  song  which  she  had  sung  at  Castle 
Hill  upon  the  last  occasion  she  had  sung  for  ]\fajor 
Baron  there.  She  had  not  realized  the  pain  she  should 
endure  in  the  memories  evoked  by  this  song,  when,  in 
compliance  with  the  request,  she  had  commenced  to  sing 
it.  As  she  went  on  her  voice  faltered  more  and  more 
with  emotion,  until  she  could  no  longer  command  it. 
A  painful  pause  ensued,  ^he  tried  to  recover  herself, 
but  finding  it  impossible  to  complete  the  song,  she 
turned  at  length.  As  she  did  so,  she  caught  sight  of 
Dr.  Leigh,  and  of  the  fixed,  compressed  look  of  pain 
about  his  mouth,  and  in  his  pale  face. 

Aliena  greeted  him  in  a  voice  still  tremulous  with 
feeling.  He  responded  formally.  And  glancing  from 
Colonel  Harvey  to  her,  said  apologetically,  "I  called  at 
Mrs.  Layton's  to  see  Colonel  Harvey — she  suggested  I 
might  find  him  here." 

Dr.  Leigh's  manner,  for  some  reason,  seemed  to  throw 
a  restraint  over  all,  and  after  a  few  formal  remarks 
were  interchanged,  he  rose,  and  bowing  formally,  left. 

'^  What  can  be  tlie  matter  with  the  doctor,  I  wonder  ?  " 
said  Colonel  Harvey,  stroking  his  beard. 

Aliena's  conscious  face  deepened  in  color  as  a  pos- 
sible cause  suggested  itself  to  her  mind  ;  and  she  re- 
plied with  'some  embarrassment,  ''  You  will  have  to  ask 
him.     No — don't — it  is  nothing,  I  suppose." 

Colonel  Harvey,  struck  with  Aliena's  embarrassed 
manner,  and  with  the  color  that  had  come  to  her  face, 


308  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

looked  curiously  at  her,  noting  that  the  tell-tale  color 
returned  under  his  inquiring  glance.  He  remained 
silent  for  some  moments,  as  though  engrossed  in  thought. 
He  said  at  length,  sadly,  "  It  is  wonderful  how  many 
thoughts  may  surge  through  one's  mind  in  a  short  time 
— of  the  long  ago — the  present — and  the  future." 

''  You  must  have  thought  rapidly,  if  all  this  could 
have  passed  through  your  mind  since  you  spoke,"  said 
Aliena. 

"  There  are  times  when  a  man's  whole  record  is  said 
to  pass  in  review  before  him  in  an  incredibly  short 
time.  When  one  is  drowning,  for  instance,"  said  Col- 
onel Harvey  solemnly.  And  studying  Aliena's  face  earn- 
estly for  a  moment,  he  continued,  "If  I  ask  you  a 
question  will  you  promise  to  answer  me  and  not  consider 
it  an  impertinence?"  But  without  waiting  for  an  an- 
swer he  went  on,  "  Does  Dr.  Leigh  love  you  ?  " 

Aliena  glanced  at  him  with  a  quick  conscious  look  as 
she  replied,  "  You  have  no  right  to  ask  me  questions 
involving  another." 

"  That  is  sufficient,"  said  Colonel  Harvey,  and  gazing 
before  him  silently  for  a  moment,  he  added  in  a  sub- 
dued tone,  '*  You  have  the  love  of  one  of  the  noblest 
men  God  ever  made." 

"  I  don't  wonder  you  think  so,  since  you  believe  he 
saved  your  life  and  preserved  you  from  being  a  life-long 
cripple." 

"  My  opinion  is  not  grounded  upon  gratitude  alone. 
Though  even  that  could  not  entirely  bias  my  judg- 
ment."   ' 

''  What  else  have  you  to  ground  it  upon  ?  I  did  not 
know  that  you  were  friends  before,"  said  Aliena  with 
some  surprise. 

*'  I  cannot  say  that  we  were  ever  friends,  though  I 
know  him." 

"  You  never  mentioned  that  you  had  known  him 
before.  I  wonder  that  you  never  did  since  you  pro- 
nounce such  a  eulogy  upon  him  now.     Will  you  tell  me 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  309 

upon  what  your  opinion  is  founded?"  asked  Aliena 
eagerly,  yet  with  evident  embarrassment.  Impelled  by 
her  intense  desire  to  hear  of  Dr.  Leigh's  past  life. 

"  It  is  founded  upon  my  knowledge  that  he  possesses 
a  magnanimity  to  which  few  men  attain  in  this  world." 

"Will  you  tell  me  why  yon  think  this?"  Aliena 
persisted,  looking  earnestly  at  Colonel  Harvey. 

Colonel  Harvey  hesitated  for  an  instant,  then  said, 
"  I  thought  that  you  condemned,  only  a  few  moments 
since,  the  asking  questions  involving  another  ?  " 

''I  think  that  prohibition  need  not  apply  when  what 
is  expected  in  reply  is  apparently  to  be  eulogistic." 

"  Could  anything  more  commendable  be  said  of  a 
man  than  that  he  loved  a  noble,  true  woman  ?  "  said 
Colonel  Harvey,  his  eyes  fixed  sadly  upon  Aliena. 

'-'  Of  course  I  will  not  question  you  if  you  think  it 
wrong,"  said  Aliena,  ignoring  Colonel  Harvey's  last  re- 
mark. But  still  impelled  by  the  possibility  thus  unex- 
pectedly offered  of  having  her  harrowing  doubts  re- 
moved she  continued,  ''  You  said  enough  to  make  me 
think  you  know  something  of  Dr.  Leigh's  past  life  ;  and 
you  pronounced  him  one  of  the  noblest  men  in  the 
world.  I  ask  you  to  tell  me  why  you  think  this?  Be- 
cause— because — I  want  to  know,"  said  Aliena,  hesitat- 
ing, disconcerted  at  the  thought  of  the  dreadful  story 
Mrs.  Bledsoe  had  told  her.  Yet  too  much  carried  away 
by  her  desire  to  know  the  truth  not  to  go  on  now,  she 
continued,  "I  have  been  told  things  affecting  Dr. 
Leigh's  character.  I  wish  to  have  him  vindicated  if 
injustice  has  been  done  him." 

"  Will  you  tell  me  what  these  things  were  ?  "  Colonel 
Harvey  asked. 

Aliena's  color  deepened  as  she  continued,  '^I  can  tell- 
you  only  that  it  was  in  regard  to  his  marriage,  and  his 
conduct  toward  his  wife." 

Colonel  Harvey's  face  became  pale  with  repressed 
emotion  at  this  unexpected  announcement.  Evidently 
going  through  with  a  painful  struggle,  loth  to  speak 


310  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

upon  this  long  sealed  subject,  he  said  at  length,  how- 
ever, sadly,  "I  possibly  know  more  than  any  other  liv- 
ing person  in  regard  to  this  subject,  I  will  tell  you,"  and 
with  evident  emotion  he  went  on  to  tell  the  whole 
story.  Of  his  love  for  Dr.  Leigh's  wife,  and  of  Dr.  Leigh's 
magnanimity  toAvard  him.  He  even  produced  the 
package  of  letters,  painful  as  it  was,  which  Dr.  Leigh 
had  returned  to  him  after  his  wife's  death,  with  his  note 
enclosed,  all  of  which  with  the  replies  he  had  had  the 
weakness  to  keep.  These  he  now  permitted  Aliena  to 
read. 

Colonel  Harvey  sat  with  a  look  of  intense  pain  upon 
his  face,  as  Aliena  read  these  letters.  She  looked  up  at 
him  with  a  scarcely  less  pained  expression  as  she  fin- 
ished. 

'^  And  in  the  face  of  all  this,"  said  Colonel  Harvey, 
with  profound  sadness,  "  when  I  was  brought  here  at 
the  point  of  death,  Dr.  Leigh  could  not  have  treated 
me  with  greater  kindness,  or  have  tended  me  more 
faithfully,  if  I  had  been  a  brother.  But  for  him  I 
might  now  be  moldering  in  yonder  cemetery,  or  what 
is  worse  be  hobbling  maimed  through  life.  And  can  you 
wonder  that  I  say  he  is  one  of  the  noblest  men  God 
ever  made  ?  " 

Aliena  sat  dumb  and  motionless.  And  Colonel  Har- 
vey, looking  painfully  depressed  arose  to  go. 

"  Pardon  me,  for  reviving  memories  so  painful  to  you," 
said  Aliena,  with  deep  emotion. 

"  That  memory  is  a  dream  of  the  past  now.  Life  is 
made  up  of  dreams,  I  find.  Most  of  them  painful,"  said 
Colonel  Harvey,  and  taking  Aliena's  hand  in  his,  and 
looking  at  her  with  a  curiously  mixed  lingering  look,  he 
added,  "  I  am  conscious  that  I  have  contributed  to  your 
happiness.  I  ought  to  feel  repaid.  I  will  some  day 
perhaps.  God  grant  you  the  happiness  you  deserve. 
Good-bye,"  and  pressing  her  hand  painfully  he  left. 

Aliena,  alone,  gasped  for  breath,  as  she  thought  of 
the  cruel  wrong  she  had  done  Dr.  Leigh,  of  the  weary 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  311 

pain  and  woe  she  might  have  saved  him,  and  herself,  if, 
as  her  heart  had  dictated,  she  had  only  trusted  him.  She 
realized  now,  longingly,  how  truly  she  had  loved  him 
through  all  this  dreary  time — through  all  the  bitterness 
of  her  contemplated  immolation  of  self,  in  her  hopeless- 
ness, to  her  troth  to  Major  Baron. 

Oh !  how  intensely  she  longed  to  see  him  again,  to 
hear  once  more  those  words  of  yearning  love,  to  confess 
her  cruel  want  of  faith,  to  beg  his  forgiveness,  to  lie 
in  the  very  dust,  at  his  feet,  to  tell  him  how  truly  she 
had  loved  "him  all  this  weary  time,  despite  her  efforts  to 
stifle  her  love,  to  hear  his  longed  for  words  of  forgive- 
ness, to  see  his  eyes  fixed  once  more  in  tenderness  and 
love  upon  her. 

How  infinitely  more  intense  would  have  been  her  pain 
and  remorse,  if  she  could  have  known  that  she  should 
look  and  long  in  vain.  That  without  seeing  her,  or 
even  leaving  good-bye.  Dr.  Leigh  Avould  two  days  after- 
ward leave  for  Richmond,  where  it  soon  became  known 
that  he  had  been  made  a  surgeon-general.  A  less  dis- 
tinguished surgeon  taking  his  place  in  Athens. 

It  had  been  a  farewell  too  with  Colonel  Harvey.  For 
some  reason  he  never  came  again  to  see  Aliena.  Some 
weeks  afterward  he  left  good-bye  for  her  with  Mrs. 
Layton  ;  with  many  thanks  for  all  her  goodness  to  him. 
Going  to  rejoin  his  regiment,  despite  the  protest  of  the 
surgeon  to  whom  had  been  assigned  Dr.  Leigh's  place. 
He  was,  as  Aliena  learned  afterward,  soon  pronu  t  jd  to 
General,  for  gallant  conduct  in  the  battles  around 
Richmond. 


312  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 


CHAPTER  LV. 

"  But  ever  and  anon  of  griefs  subdued 
•    There  comes  a  tokeu  like  a  scorpion's  sting ; — 
A  tone  of  music — summer's  eve — or  spring — 
A  flower— the  wind — the  ocean — wliich  shall  wound — 
Striking  the  electric  chain  wherewith  we  are  darkly  bound." 

Byron  :  Childe  Harold. 

Autumn  came.  The  dark  days  when  nature  wept 
over  those  exposed  to  cold  and  privation  in  camp  and 
field.  Where  scantily  clad,  and  hungry,  perhaps,  the 
soldiers  succumbed  to  sickness ;  or  wounded  in  battle, 
were  carried  to  the  rear  to  hospitals,  wanting,  owing  to 
the  blockade,  in  the  necessities  of  life  and  in  remedial 
agents  for  treatment. 

Here  Aliena,  with  Mrs.  Layton,  again  sought,  through 
ministry  to  others,  to  find  peace  for  her  own  sorely 
troubled  heart. 

The  winter  slowly  and  drearily  passed.  Spring  came 
again  with  its  song  of  birds,  and  hum  of  life,  and  del- 
icate changing  hues  of  freshly  budding  foliage.  Its 
odors  of  sweet  floAvers,  its  soft  winds,  and  drifting 
clouds;  its  sunshine  and  shadow,  its  dri]»ping  leaves, 
rainbow  arches,  and  melting  sunsets,  and  blushing  glow 
of  heat.     And  with  it,  its  yearning  unrest. 

And  Aliena  found  it  harder  to  find  satisfaction  in  duty 
then,  than  when  the  days  were  dark  and  •  cold. 

Summer  passed,  and  the  days  of  the  Confederacy 
were  fast  drawing  to  a  close.  Since  the  crippling  of  its 
energies  by  the  dismemberment,  caused  by  the  surrender 
of  Vicksburg,  it  had  constantly  lost  ground,  and  hope- 
fulness. •  Under  poverty,  hardship  and  death,  its  armies 
were  depleting.  The  people,  as  well  as  the  soldiers, 
were  becoming  more  and  more  hopeless  and  dispirited. 

To  those  cut  off  from  home  and  financial  resources 
by  the  enemy,  the  times  were  even  more  tr3'ing. 

And  autumn  came  again  in  gorgeous  arra}^  nature 
giving  out  its  most  glorious  tints  in  dying.     The  myr- 


'  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  313 

ties  in  crimson  and  gold,  the  yellow  elms,  the  brilliant 
reds  of  sumach  and  alders,  with  the  staid  yellow  browns 
of  grave  old  oaks,  mingled  with  the  dark  green  of  cedars 
and  pines,  on  the  sparkling,  mica-sprinkled  hillsides  and 
valleys.  These,  toned  by  the  purple-gray  haze  of  Indian 
summer,  with  its  soft,  yet  energizing,  life-giving  atmos- 
phere, made  these  later  days  seem  calmer,  better,  than 
the  yearning,  wistful  spring-time. 

The  women  busied  themselves  in  getting  ready  for 
another  trying  Avinter  before  them.  For  those  at  home 
and  those  to  be  exposed  to  the  rigors  of  this  season  in 
the  field.  The  old  spinning-wheels  had  been  promoted 
from  the  cabin  to  the  parlor.  It  was  the  fashion  now  to 
spin  and  weave,  to  dye  and  knit.  Beautiful  fingers  de- 
voted themselves  to  this  work ;  and  each  home,  through 
love,  became  an  energized  factory,  providing  for  father, 
husband  and  sons,  scantily  clad  and  fed,  to  be  exposed 
to  the  rigors  of  another  winter's  campaign.  And  all 
could  feelingly  say,  "  God  pity  the  poor." 

The  autumn  leaves  faded  and  fell.  The  tears  of  win- 
ter falling  upon  the  dead  year  crystallized  into  beauti- 
ful robes,  and  the  old  year,  resurrected  into  the  new 
year,  came  forth  in  dazzling  beauty ;  sparkling  with 
countless  gems  as  though  the  mortal  had  put  on  im- 
mortality. 

Spring  came  again,  and  with  it  the  black,  blank  deso- 
lation of  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea;  marked  by 
smouldering  homes  and  ghostly  sentinel  chimneys. 
Athens  trembled.  But  the  enemy  taking  a  different 
route  the  place  was  spared. 

It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  depict  the  gloom  of  the 
Confederacy  when,  after  four  long  3'ears  of  privation, 
self-sacrifice,  sorrow  and  heroic  defense,  overcome  by 
numbers,  it  began  vaguely  to  be  hinted  that  surrender 
was  inevitable.  When,  at  last,  the  surrender  had  taken 
place,  the  people  refused  to  believe  it. 

Athens,  isolated  in  position,  remained  in  doubt. 
News  of  surrender  came  at  length  to  officials,  but  they 


314  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  ^ 

hesitated  to  make  it  known.  It  was  whispered  among 
the  people  upon  the  barren  red  hills  around  Athens,  and 
the  spirit  of  communism,  latent  with  the  poor,  took 
possession  of  the  homes  of  the  "crackers."  And  from 
hillside  and  cabin  the  sallow  raw-boned  men  and  wo- 
men swooped  down  like  ill-omened  birds  of  prey  upon 
the  Confederate  stores  accumulated  here. 

"  Laws  a  marcy  !  mistiss,  the  Yankees  have  done 
come,"  said  Mauma,  bursting  unceremoniously  into 
Mrs.  Graeme's  room  at  an  early  hour  the  morning  after 
the  sacking  of  the  Confederate  stores. 

Mrs.  Graeme  was  in  bed,  too  sick  to  have  risen  if  it 
had  been  a  much  later  hour  ;  but  Mauma  felt  that  there 
was  no  time  for  ceremony  now.  The  clattering  of 
horses'  hoofs  and  of  the  soldiers'  sabres  testified  to 
the  emergency  of  the  case.  Aliena  also  heard  these 
sounds,  and  moving  to  her  window,  partially  unclosed 
the  blinds  and  saw  for  herself  men  in  Federal  uniforms 
demanding  his  watch  from  the  vice-chancellor  of  the 
University,  at  the  mouth  of  their  pistols.  Trembling 
and  pale,  she  closed  and  fastened  the  blinds,  and  endeav- 
oring to  appear  as  calm  as  possible,  went  to  her  mother's 
room  to  inform  her. 

She  now  hurriedly  collected  and  secreted  what  jewelry 
and  valuables  they  had  with  them,  and  tremblingly 
awaited  what  might  be  before  them. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

"  Thou  art  left  alone  among  foes,  O  daughter  of  Torcultomo." 

OSSIAN. 

To  Mrs.  Graeme's  and  Aliena's  consternation,  the 
University  was  selected  by  the  Federals  as  their  head- 
quarters, and  they  soon  found  themselves  surrounded 
by  soldiers — close  prisoners  in  their  rooms. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  315 

Later  in  the  day  of  occupation  by  the  enemy,  Mauma 
conclucled  to  take  a  furtive  observation.  Partially 
opening  the  door,  as  she  did  so,  Hugi  bounded  out  and 
on  in  the  most  delighted  manner  toward  a  soldier,  who, 
seated  upon  his  horse,  was  conversing  with  a  group  near 
the  house,  and  to  Mauma's  astonishment,  ran  around 
and  around  the  man,  testifying  his  delight  in  every  imag- 
inable way.  Mauma  gazed  at  Hugi  and  then  at  the  man 
in  amazement  and  perplexity  at  this  extraordinary  per- 
formance of  the  dog. 

"  Bless  the  Lord  I  if  that  don't  beat  anything  I  ever 
seen,"  said  Mauma.  ''  1  do  declare  I  believe  that  dog 
thinks  he  's  a  nigger,  and  he  's  done  gone  crazy  like  all 
the  rest  of  them." 

Calling  the  dog,  unheeded,  Mauma  closed  the  door, 
and  fastening  it  securely,  went  to  seek  Aliena. 

"Honey,  do  come  here,  if  you  please,  just  a  minnit, 
and  see  how  Hugi 's  a  goin'  on.  I  never  seen  anything 
like  it.  The  Lord  has  curus  ways  of  makin'  his  will 
known.  He  done  it  through  his  dumb  beast  to  Baalam, 
and  it  'pears  like  to  me  he  's  a  doin'  through  a  dumb 
brute  again." 

Aliena,  going  as  Mauma  requested,  looked  cautiously 
through  the  partially-opened  door  at  Hugi,  who  was 
continuing  his  demonstrations  of  joy,  in  a  less  excited 
way.  She  turned  suddenly  pale  and  closed  the  door, 
saying  in  a  suppressed  tone  of  terror,  "That  is  the 
robber  who  entered  mother's  room  at  Chattanooga." 

"  Laws  a  marcy !  honey,  you  don't  say  so?  But  how 
did  Hugi  come  to  be  so  fond  of  him.  I  can't  think  he 
could  a  took  such  a  fancy  to  him  that  night,  even  if  he 
seen  him,"  said  Mauma,  more  perplexed  than  ever. 
Suddenly,  as  if  a  bright  inspiration  had  come  to  her, 
she  exclaimed,  "But  maybe  the  Lord  intentioned  to 
make  the  robber  known  and  is  a  doin'  it  by  this  dumb 
brute." 

"  I  scarcely  think  that,  Mauma,  though  it  is  certainly 
strange   that  Hugi  should    act  so,"  said  Aliena,  and 


316  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

curious  herself  to  solve  the  mystery,  she  took  another 
look.  Closing  the  door  suddenly,  she  exclaimed  in  a 
delighted  tone,  in  spite  oi:  the  circumstances,  "  Why, 
Mauma,  that  is  Alert  the  man  is  riding  !  " 

"Well,  bless  your  heart  honey  !  that's  a  fact,"  said 
Mauma  peeping  out.  "  And  that  is  what 's  the  matter 
with  the  dog.  He  always  was  powerful  fond  of  Alert. 
I  was  so  busy  lookin'  at  the  man,  I  never  took  no  no- 
tice of  the  horse.  And  he  's  lookin'  mighty  fine,  too, 
honey,  considerin'  he  's  been  through  the  wars.  Don't 
never  let  that  man  see  you  though  for  the  Lord's  sake. 
Nor  don't  let  on  you  know  anything  about  him.  Must 
I  call  Hugi,  honey  ?  It  'pears  like  to  me  I  'm  a  Idsin' 
all  the  sense  I  ever  did  have." 

"  Yes,  call  him  in,  Mauma.  I  should  be  grieved  to 
lose  him  too."  And  Mauma  opened  the  door  and 
called  in  a  suppressed  tone  to  Hugi  as  requested.  He 
came  bounding  toward  them,  then  turned  and  leaped 
back  and  forth,  barking  as  he  approached  Alert,  as 
though  communicating  the  glad  news  of  the  long  lost 
found.  Aliena  called  softly  to  Hugi,  in  one  of  his  ap- 
proaches, and  he  bounded  at  once  into  the  house,  and 
Mauma  closed  the  door  quickly  behind  him. 

Aliena,  after  seeing  this  man,  felt  more  than  ever  as 
though  she  were  besieged,  and  it  did  not  need  Mauma's 
caution  to  prevent  her  from  allowing  herself  to  be  seen 
bv  him,  or  by  any  other  of  those  in  whose  power  she 
found  herself  placed. 

Mrs.  Graeme,  too  sick  to  rise,  shut  up  a  prisoner,  tor- 
tured by  apprehension,  seemed  scarcely  likely  to  regain 
her  strength. 

"  Daughter,"  she  said  the  following  evening,  "  I  am 
growing  weaker  and  weaker,  instead  of  stronger,  shut 
up  in  this  close,  stilling  room.  I  can  never  hope  to  be 
out  of  bed,  unless  I  can  breathe  the  fresh  air.  Won't 
you  remove  the  light  from  the  room,  and  open  the 
blinds  for  a  w^hile." 

Aliena,  though  in  greater  terror  even  than  her  mother 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  317 

was  aware,  since  her  recognition  of  the  robber,  proceeded 
to  move  the  light,  and  cautiously  to  open  the  blinds. 
As  she  did  so,  she  caught  the  sound  of  voices  not  far 
from  the  window,  conversing  in  a  low  tone. 

"  I  'm  a  reft'ergee  here,  my  marster  lives  in  Louisean- 
ner.  I  'm  livin'  with  some  white  folks,  what  tuk  me  fur 
my  vittles  and  clothes,"  she  heard  the  voice  say,  which 
she  recognized  as  that  of  Pomp,  Mrs.  Skinker's  servant. 

''  Are  there  any  pretty  young  ladies  in  this  building  ?  " 
the  other  asked.  And  her  eyes  having  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  darkness,  she  discovered  the  other  to  be 
the  soldier  whom  she  had  recognized  as  the  robber. 

"  Yes,  Miss  Lena,  what  lives  in  them  rooms  is  power- 
ful pretty  and  soft  spoken,"  said  Pomp,  pointing  toward 
Avhere  Aliena  stood,  trembling,  behind  the  partially  open 
blinds.  She  closed  them  softly,  shuddering  at  hearing 
herself  thus  discussed.  And  without  comment  brought 
the  light  back,  and  went  to  ask  Mauma  to  come  and 
sit  with  them,  feeling  some  sense  of  protection  in 
another  presence,  beside  that  of  her  helpless  sick  mother. 

Aliena  now  took  up  a  book  and  endeavored  to  divert 
her  mother's  thought  b}^  reading  aloud.  This,  if  it  did 
not  have  a  lulling  effect  upon  Mrs.  Graeme,  had  upon 
Mauma,  who,  with  the  negro  facility  for  sleeping  was 
soon  nodding  in  her  chair.  Aliena  continued  to  read 
as  she,  as  well  as  her  mother,  felt  that  it  was  useless  to 
seek  sleep  as  long  as  they  could  hear  the  heavy  tramp 
of  soldiers,  and  the  clatter  of  spurs  and  sabres  through 
the  halls  of  the  great  building. 

These  sounds  ceased  as  it  grew  later,  and  a  profound 
stillness  at  length  seemed  to  pervade  the  building. 
Suddenly  a  heavy  thug  upon  the  floor  over-head  with 
stifled  sounds  and  struggles,  startled  Aliena  and  Mrs. 
Graeme,  painfully.  Mauma  awakened  by  the  heavy 
fall  above  her,  startled,  confused  and  frightened,  seemed 
to  have  lost  all  presence  of  mind  and  courage. 

"  Mauma,  do  go  and  see  what  is  the  matter  ?  "  said 
Aliena. 


318  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

"  Lord !  Lord  I  I  can't  go  there  to  be  killed,"  said 
Mauma. 

"  I  must  go  myself.  I  can't  stay  here  and  let  any  one 
be  murdered  !  "  exclaimed  Aliena,  taking  a  candle  in 
her  hand  and  starting  as  the  sounds  continued. 

''  Don't,  don't  go  there  I  "  said  Mrs.  Graeme  entreat- 
ingly,  starting  up  in  bed.  But  Aliena  was  gone,  and 
her  mother  fell  back,  overcome  by  debility  and  alarm. 

Aliena  moved  on  rapidly  to  the  main  cross  hall  where 
a  number  of  soldiers  in  the  dread  blue  uniform  were 
lying  upon  the  floor,  either  asleep  or  feigning  to  be  so. 
In  spite  of  her  terror  of  them  Aliena  now  appealed  to 
the  one  nearest  the  door. 

''For  God's  sake  go  up  stairs.  Some  one  is  being 
murdered?"  she  said. 

The  man  waking  suddenly  rose  to  his  elbow  as  she 
spoke,  and  shading  his  eyes  with  his  hand  from  the  light 
she  carried,  he  looked  up  bewildered  at  the  lovely  face 
above  him.  Aliena  reiterating  her  request,  he  started 
to  his  feet — evidently  but  just  aroused  to  full  conscious- 
ness— and  guided  by  the  stifled  sounds  which  still  con- 
tinued, and  by  the  quick  barking  of  a  dog,  he  sprang  up 
the  steps,  and  moved  on  toward  the  place  from  whence 
came  the  sounds. 

He  ran  against  some  one  whom  he  encountered  in  the 
darkness,  almost  knocking  him  down. 

"What  in  the  hell  are  you  about?"  exclaimed  the 
man  encountered,  indignantly,  who  was  moving  in  the 
same  direction. 

"Is  it  you.  Major  Swofford?  "  said  the  soldier  apolo- 
getically, recognizing  the  voice.  "  They  say  some  one 
is  being  murdered  up  here." 

The  stifled  sounds  had  ceased,  but  the  noise  of  the 
dog  guided  them  to  where  he  was  still  barking  furiously 
outside  the  door  of  his  mistress'  room.  As  they  drew 
nearer  they  heard,  above  the  sounds  the  dog  was  making, 
a  strange,  unnatural  laugh ;  and  rushing  on  they  threw 
open  the  door. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  319 

In  the  dimly  lighted  room  they  beheld  the  form  of  a 
white-haired  old  woman,  crouching  upon  the  prostrate 
body  of  a  younger  woman,  her  fingers  almost  buried  in 
the  Hesh,  as  with  unnatural,  maniacal  strength  she 
clutched  the  throat  of  the  now  insensible  form,  whose 
veins  were  distended  to  great  cords  standing  out  about 
her  face  and  throat,  which  were  purple  almost  to  black- 
ness, her  tongue  protruding  from  her  mouth. 

As  the}^  entered,  the  old  woman  lifted  her  face,  her 
white,  disheveled  hair  standing  wildly  out  about  it, 
her  mouth  wrinkled  and  sunken  over  her  toothless  gums, 
and  laughed  again  one  of  her  strange,  unearthly  laughs, 
''  Ha  I  ha  !  ha  !  Jim  Skinker  !  You  've  come  to  the 
wedding  have  you?  We  11  dance  together,  but  it  must 
be  upon  the  coffin.  Your  bride  is  stiff — stiff  and  cold, 
but  all  in  white,"  she  mumbled,  glancing  down.  And 
seeing  that  the  woman  was  gasping  back  to  life  she 
clutched  again  at  her  throat. 

The  soldier,  who  had  been  stultified  for  the  moment  by 
the  sight  which  he  had  beheld,  now  moved  quickly  to 
the  rescue.  While  Major  Swofford,  as  Jim  Skinker  called 
himself,  crept  from  the  room,  saying  as  he  moved  back 
in  the  darkness,  ""It's  a  d — d  pity  she  didn't  finish  the 
job." 

As  the  srldier  approached,  and  put  out  his  hands  to 
grasp  the  old  w^oman,  she  sprang  aside,  and,  eluding  him, 
escaped  quickly  from  the  room,  and  fled  on  down  stairs, 
past  Aliena,  who  had  awaited  in  terror  in  the  hall,  out 
into  the  Campus. 

''  She  is — my  mother — is — is  crazy.  Don't — don't 
leave  me,"  gasped  Mrs.  Skinker,  still  prostrate  upon  the 
floor. 


320  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

"For  brother  men 
Can  counsel  and  speak  comfort  to  that  grief 
Which  they  themselves  not  feel ;  but  tasting  it 
Their  counsel  turns  to  passion." 

The  Confederate  soldiers  were  beginning  to  return  to 
their  homes,  if  they  had  any  left.  Foot-sore,  for  no 
transportation  was  furnished  them,  but  infinitely  more 
heartsore. 

Preston  Massey,  who  with  others  had  determined  to 
expatriate  himself,  join  Maximilian,  do  anything  rather 
than  surrender,  had  come  to  say  good-bye  to  home,  and 
friends,  before  leaving. 

'  He  arrived  the  night  before  the  occupation  of  Athens 
by  the  enemy  as  described.  He  was  awakened  in  the 
morning,  by  soldiers  standing  over  him,  demanding  a 
surrender,  at  the  mouth  of  the  pistol.  Chagrined  and 
mortified,  he  remained  a  voluntary  prisoner,  at  home 
for  days. 

"Nellie,"  he  said  some  days  afterward,  to  his  sister, 
"I  must  go  and  see  what  has  becomS  of  Miss  Graeme 
and  her  mother.  It  is  dreadful  to  think  of  them,  shut 
up,  prisoners  in  the  University,  given  over  to  the  mer- 
cies of  those — Well,  I  '11  try  not  to  put  myself  into  a 
passion.  But  I  can  imagine  that  beautiful,  sensitive 
girl," — and  he  broke  off  again,  suddenly  sitting,  stroking 
with  a  forlorn  air  the  stubble  of  more  than  a  week's 
growth  upon  his  chin*  He  continued  at  length,  "  I 
thought  I  would  never  shave  again,  but  I  suppose  I  '11 
have  to." 

"  I  am  so  glad  something  has  aroused  you  out  of  the 
slough  of  despond  you  have  been  in,  Pres.  I  do  wish 
you  would  shave  and  go  and  see  Miss  Graeme.  I  know 
it  is  hard  upon  you  soldiers,  but  no  one  could  expect 
you  to  whip  the  whole  world,"  continued  Helen  Massey 
tenderly,  with  a  sigh  she  could  not  repress. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  321 

"  Do  you  think  it  would  matter,  if  I  went  without 
shaving?"  said  Colonel  Massey,  relapsing. 

"  Pres,  please  don't  talk  that  way  ? "  said  Helen, 
standing  behind  her  brother's  chair,  stroking  his  hair 
tenderly,  as  he  sat,  his  whole  attitude  attesting  his  utter 
dejection  and  hopelessness.  "  You  would  feel  so  much 
better,  if  you  would  only  shave  and  dress  yourself  nicely. 
It  makes  me  feel  so  badly  to — to  see  you  this  way,"  and 
her  voice  faltered,  and  the  tears  she  could  not  keep  back, 
dropped  upon  the  unconscious  head  she  was  stroking. 

"  I  11  try  and  do  it,  Nellie,  if  you  will  only  get  up  a 
little  more  cheerful  tone  of  voice,"  said  Colonel  Massey. 

Helen  brushed  away  her  tears  quickly,  and  tried  to 
assume  a  cheerful  tone  as  she  sard,  "  I  could  be  cheer- 
ful, I  think,  PreS' —  "  but  she  broke  down  again,  as  Col- 
onel Massey,  who  had  risen  listlessly,  turned  and  fixed 
his  eyes  upon  her. 

'^  You  've  been  crying,  Nellie,  you  know  you  have," 
he  said ;  "  if  you  will  only  quit  that,  and  try  and  bear  it 
bravely,  I  will  shave  and  put  on  clean  shirts  three  times 
a  day,  if  you  want  me  to." 

"  It  does  me  good  sometimes  to  cry,"  Helen  faltered 
out,  and,  giving  way  utterly  now,  she  sobbed  convul- 
sively, saying,  as  she  struggled  to  recover  herself, 
''  Don't  -mind  me,  Pres.  I  '11  be  better  soon,  and  I 
shan't — I  shan't  cry  any  more,  if — if  I  can  help  it,  but — 
but  it  is  so  hard — so  hard  to  have  you  all  come  back 
home  this  way.  And,  and  I  expected  you  to — to  come 
back  with  flags  flying,  and — and  drums  beating,  crowned 
with — with  laurel — and  all  that."  And  Helen  gave  her- 
self up  to  sobbing  again,  while  Preston  Massey  left  the 
room  Avith  a  suspicious  movement  of  the  hand  to  his 
eyes. 

He  did  shave  and  dress  himself,  however,  that  after- 
noon, and  went  to  the  University  to  see  Aliena.  After 
much  unbolting  and  unbarring  of  door's,  he  was  gladly 
received  by  her,  to  whom  it  was  a  comfort  to  see  a  sym- 
pathetic face. 

21 


322  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

When  he  returned  home  he  depicted  in  moving 
colors,  to  his  mother  and  sister,  the  forlorn  state  in 
which  he  had  found  Aliena  and  her  sick  mother,  barri- 
caded in  their  rooms,  unprotected,  surrounded  by  de- 
moralized soldiers.  Applying  some  epithets  to  the 
latter  for  which  he  apologized  for  giving  utterance  in 
the  presence  of  his  mother  and  sister. 

"  Preston,"  said  Mrs.  Massey,  "  Why  can't  those  ladies 
come  and  share  our  home  until  they  can  go  to  their 
own?    I  am  sure  we  would  be  glad  to  have  them  do  so." 

"  That 's  a  fact.  Mother,  you  always  were  a  trump," 
said  Colonel  Massey  irreverently,  with  some  of  his  old 
enthusiasm.  Continuing,  "  Nell,  come  and  go  back  with 
me,  and  let  us  ask  them  to  come  at  once  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  dark  before  you  could  get  the  carriage 
and  go  ;  and  I  should  be  afraid  for  Helen  to  go  among 
those  dreadful  soldiers  after  dark,"  interposed  Mrs. 
Massey  prudently. 

**  Pres,  I  will  go  with  you  soon  in  the  morning,"  said 
Helen,  entering  earnestly  into  her  brother's  feelings. 

"  But  suppose  anything  happened  to  Miss  Graeme 
to-night  ?  "  suggested  Colonel  Massey. 

''  Preston,  is  there  anything  serious  between  you  and 
Miss  Graeme?"  asked  Mrs.  Massey  earnestly. 

"  I  have  a  serious  notion  of  falling  in  love  with  her, 
if  you  call  that  an3^thing  serious,"  he  replied  jokingly, 
in  spite  of  his  depression. 

''  You  ought  to  think  very  seriously  now  before  doing 
anything  of  that  kind,  my  son.  These  are  no  times  for 
falling  in  love,"  protested  Mrs.  Massey  gravely. 

"  Do  let  him  fall  in  love,  mother,  if  he  can  ;  anything 
but  this  despondency,"  said  Helen. 

"  Don't  be  uneasy  about  me,  mother.  I  '11  try  and 
not  fall  in  love.  But  that  pale,  beautiful,  sorrowful 
face,  those  sad,  pleading  eyes,  and  that  sweet,  sensitive 
mouth,  are  almost  too  much  for  a  man  to  pledge  himself 
against;  especially  when  he  has  been  cut  off  from  ladies' 
society  for  so  long  a  time.     But  don't  you  remember 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  323 

how  you  used  to  lie  awake  of  nights  about  Mary  Desseau, 
and  I  still  live,"  said  Colonel  Massey  with  forced  levity. 

Early  the  next  morning  Colonel  and  Miss  Massey, — 
the  latter  closely  veiled — as  was  the  custom  of  the  few 
ladies  that  moved  about  at  this  time — entered  their  car- 
riage and  were  driven  to  the  University.  Here,  after 
the  usual  unbarring  the}^  were  ushered  in. 

Miss  Massey,  greeting  Aliena  affectionately,  said, 
'*  Come  Aliena,  mother  has  sent  Pres  and  myself  to  take 
you  and  your  mother  home  with  us.  She  says  it  will 
never  do  for  you  to  stay  here,  locked  up  as  you  are, 
surrounded  by  these  dreadful  soldiers,  that  we  must 
bring  you  back  with  us  ?  " 

''  It  is  certainly  very  kind  of  your  mother  to  think  of 
us,  and  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  her,  but  I  scarcely 
think  we  can  go.  Mother  is  not  well  enough  even  to 
be  out  of  bed,"  said  Aliena. 

''Can't  I  see  your  mother  and  ask  her  myself?"  said 
Helen. 

"  Certainly,  come  with  me,"  Aliena  replied,  and  the 
two  ladies  repaired  to  Mrs.  Graeme's  room. 

"  Now  is  n't  it  too  bad,"  said  Helen  to  her  brother 
when  they  returned  to  the  parlor.  "  Mrs.  Graeme  says 
they  can't  go  with  us." 

"  Is  it  because  your  mother  is  not  well  enough  to 
go  ?  "  asked  Colonel  Massej',  addressing  Aliena. 

"  I  don't  knoAV  that  it  is  entirely  on  that  account," 
said  Aliena. 

"  I  don't  like  to  differ  from  your  mother,"  said  Col- 
onel Massey,  but  I  think  she  is  wrong  to  stay  here  and 
keep  you  among  these  soldiers.  Beside,  if  she  only  had 
mother  to  nurse  and  coddle  her  up,  she  would  get  well 
directly.  There  never  was  any  one  equal  to  mother  at 
that  sort  of  thing  I  am  sure." 

"  But  so  it  is,"  replied  Aliena  in  such  a  way  that  he 
felt  it  useless  to  continue  his  entreaties.  And  disap- 
pointed, they  took  their  leave. 

Mrs.  Graeme  shut  up  in  their  cloistered  rooms,  de- 


324  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

pressed  in  mind,  and  sick  in  bod}-,  truly  longed  to  re- 
turn to  her  desolate  home.  But  now  that  communica- 
tion was  once  more  established,  a  new  difficulty  arose. 
None  were  permitted  to  take  out  mail  or  express  matter 
except  those  who  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  tlnited  States  government. 

Constant  anxiety  and  sorrow,  the  sense  of  humiliation 
in  the  surrender,  the  renewed  memory  of  her  husband's 
life  sacrificed,  the  silent  sorrow  of  Aliena,  with  actual 
privation  endured,  seemed  slowly  but  surely  sapping 
Mrs.  Graeme's  life. 

Aliena,  worn  with  her  own  sorrows,  helpless  as  she  was, 
almost  frenzied  by  her  mother's  condition,  could  en- 
dure this  no  longer.  And  she  determined  to  send,  ask- 
ing for  their  letters,  and,  if  inevitable,  to  pay  the  pen- 
alty, by  taking  the  oath. 

The  Provost  Marshal  came  in  person  to  deliver  the 
letters  and  administer  the  oath,  instead  of  exacting,  as 
was  the  custom,  that  she  should  come  to  his  office  to 
take  it  publicly. 

As  Aliena  entered  the  parlor  to  meet  him,  she  stood 
transfixed,  as  in  the  officer  before  her  she  recognized 
Colonel  Seldon,  Major  Baron's  college  friend.  IJis  emo- 
tion was  scarcely  less  painful,  as  in  the  lovely  girl  Avho 
appeared,  he  recognized  Aliena  Graeme.  She  halted 
in  the  doorway,  and  her  graceful  form  unconsciously 
assumed  a  more  erect  pose. 

Colonel  Seldon  moved  forward  to  meet  her  with  an 
air  of  painful  embarrassment,  and  proffering  his  hand, 
said,  ''  Miss  Graeme,  I  hope  that  the  altered  position 
we  hold  toward  each  other  will  not  prevent  our  meet- 
ing as  friends.  I  can  assure  you  that  it  would  give  me 
pleasure  to  be  able  to  do  you  any  kindness  ?  " 

Aliena  put  out  her  hand  silently,  barely  touching 
that  proffered,  and  withdrawing  it  said  somewhat 
haughtily,  ''  Colonel  Seldon,  I  sent  for  my  letters,  not 
knowing  it  was  to  you.  My  mother  is  likely  to  die 
here.     I  must  save  her  life  if  possible.     I  have  endured 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  325 

all  I  can.  We  wish  to  get  back  to  the  ashes  of  a  home, 
at  least,"  and  her  voice  faltered,  but  she  went  on.  "As 
I  cannot  get  means  without,  I  must  take  the  oath,"  and 
she  grew  as  white  as  marble  as  she  continued.  "•  It 
seems  hard  that  a  great  nation  could  not  content  itself 
with  the  humiliation  of  the  men  it  has  conquered,  but 
that  the  women  must  be  included  in  tliat  humiliation. 
If  to  have  given  my  heart's  sympathies  to  the  cause 
baptized  in  the  blood  of  my  father,  makes  me  a  rebel,  I 
have  been  one.     And  I  must  pay  the  penalty,  I  suppose." 

"  I  had  not  counted  upon  this  added  pain  to  be  en- 
dured. I  did  not  know  that  it  was  to  you  that  I  came. 
I  will  not  be  an  instrument  in  your  humiliation.  I  shall 
resign  rather  than  inflict  it,"  said  Colonel  Seldon,  deeply 
moved,  pacing  the  room  as  he  spoke. 

''  Your  resignation  could  not  lessen  the  humiliation. 
I  find  it  hard  enough  to  endure  now.  Spare  me  the 
abasement  of  having  to  submit  to  this  before  one  who 
might  not  feel  as  you  do,"  said  Aliena. 

Colonel  Seldon  still  walked  back  and  forth  in  the  room 
with  the  impotent  pain  of  a  brave,  sensitive  man  forced 
into  such  a  position  with  a  woman.  Then  taking  up 
the  form  of  the  oath,  looking  away  from  her  and  omit- 
ting the  asking  as  to  her  ''  age,  color  of  hair,  of  eyes, 
height,  etc.,"  he  read  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  government,  to  which  she  made  the  necessary 
response. 

When  he  had  finished,  turning  to  her  he  said  in  a 
pained  voice,  ''  Miss  Graeme,  you  cannot  know  what  I 
have  endured  in  complying  with  your  request.  Each 
word  you  Avere  compelled  to  utter  seemed  a  dagger 
thrust  to  me.  Compensate  me  by  allowing  me  an 
opportunity  for  kindness  when  possible,"  and  handing 
her  her  letters  as  well  as  Mrs.  Graeme's,  he  continued, 
"It  seems  hard  for  me  to  have  to  suffer  added  mortifi- 
cation, but,  when  your  mother  is  able,  I  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  undergo  this  again." 

"  Her  death  may  save  you  both  that  pain,"  said  Ali- 


326  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

ena  with  faltering  voice,  and  Colonel  Seldon  left,  feel- 
ing the  more  humiliated  of  the  two. 

It  was  hard  for  Aliena  to  find,  when  she  opened  the 
letters  for  which  she  had  paid  so  dearl}^  that  they  did 
not  contain  means  sufficient  for  their  return  home  ;  and 
that  but  little  hope  was  expressed  as  to  the  possibility 
of  their  obtaining  possession  of  their  property. 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 

"  Of  all  God's  works,  creature  in  whom  excelled 
Whatever  can  to  sight  or  thought  be  formed, 
How  art  thou  lost  ?   how  on  a  sudden  lost — 
How  can  I  live  without  thee  ?     How  forego 
Thy  sweet  converse,  and  love  so  dearly  joined, 
To  live  again  in  these  wild  woods  forlorn  ?  " 

Milton:  Paradise  Lost. 

"  It  is  enough  to  kill  any  one  to  sit  here  and  mope  and 
grieve  over  the  dead  Confederacy.  We  might  as  well 
try  and  throw  it  off.  Professor  and  Mrs.  Layton, 
Helen  and  I,  and  a  few  other  friends  are  proposing  a 
trip  to  the  mountains  and  falls  in  North  Georgia.  The 
scenery  there  is  grand ;  and  we  have  come  to  ask  you 
to  join  us,"  said  Colonel  Massey  to  Aliena  some  weeks 
after  the  scenes  described. 

"Yes,  Aliena,  you  must  go,  we  will  take  no  refusal," 
added  Helen  Massey.  "  It  is  said  to  be  the  loveliest' 
scenery  imaginable.  I  know  that  you  will  be  more 
than  repaid."  Visions  of  the  beautiful  floating  through 
Aliena's  imagination  lit  up  her  sad  face  at  this  pro- 
posal, though  on  account  of  her  mother  she  felt  con- 
strained to  decline  it. 

But  Mrs.  Graeme  coming  in,  Helen  repeated  the 
proposition,  asking  her  to  try  and  induce  Aliena  to  go. 
Looking   anxiously   at  the  colorless,    sad  face    of  her 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y,  327 

daughter,  Mrs.  Graeme  did  urge  her  to  go,  and  so  it 
was  arranged. 

"  Nell,"  said  Colonel  Massey  to  his  sister  as  they  were 
driving  from  the  Campus,  ''  I  am  afraid  you  were  all 
not  as  kind  to  Miss  Graeme  as  you  ought  to  have  been, 
during  this  dreary  time,  while  she  has  been  cut  off  from 
home  and  friends.  She  seems  hopelessly  depressed  and 
sad.     I  can't  think  it  is  the  surrender  entirely." 

"  I  should  n't  wonder,  if  some  man  were  to  blame. 
You  know,  from  Adam  down,  you  men  have  delighted 
in  throwing  your  sins  upon  woman,"  said  Helen. 

"  That 's  a  fact.  I  don't  mean  about  that  Adam  busi- 
ness. I  wish  to  heaven,  that  for  the  sake  of  his  unfor- 
tunate masculine  posterity,  he  had  never  given  a  chance 
for  that  everlasting  fling.  But  as  to  the  masculine  in 
this  mystery,  I  remember  now  that  I  used  to  think 
there  wg-s  a  love  affair  between  her  and  Baron.  Don't 
you  remember  the  handsome  fellow  I  introduced  to  you 
at  our  party,  when  I  was  at  home  on  furlough,  the  young- 
man  I  knew  on  the  Mediterranean,  a  Major  in  our  army  ; 
he  called  afterwards  ?  " 

"  Of  course,  I  remember  him.  Yon  don't  suppose  I 
could  forget  so  elegant  and  charming  a  gentleman  as 
that  in  less  than  two  years,  even  if  beaux  had  been 
more  plenty  than  they  were  then." 

"  I  wonder  if  she  has  been  remembering  him  all  this 
time  too  ?     How  long  did  he  stay  here  after  I  left  ?  " 

"  A  very  short  time  I  think." 

**  Was  he  ever  here  afterwards  ?  " 

*'  Not  that  I  ever  heard  of.  If  he  came,  he  never 
called  on  me." 

'^  I  remember  now,  how  strangely  agitated  she  was, 
when  I  was  telling  her  about  him,  a  week  or  two  since, 
of  his  having  turned  out  a  regular  vagabond,  cashiered 
for  drunkenness  and  arrested  for  trying  to  murder  his 
servant.  I  do  wonder  if  she  has  been  grieving  over 
him  all  this  time." 

The    party,  as  agreed,  started  a  few  days  afterward 


328  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y, 

upon  their  excursion.  The  night  before  they  expected 
to  reach  Toccoa,  they  were  to  camp  by  a  noted  spring, 
near  a  country  church ;  but  owing  to  the  rough  roads, 
night  was  coming  on  and  they  were  still  some  miles 
distant.  Darkness  came,  and  yet  they  toiled  on,  trust- 
ing more  to  the  tired  animals  to  keep  the  road  than  to 
their  own  sight,  they  bumped  wearily  along,  swaying 
fearfully,  from  side  to  side,  at  times. 

They  were  relieved  at  length,  by  finding  that  they 
were  approaching  the  church.  As  at  intervals,  the  dis- 
mal dirge-like  wailing,  in  that  direction,  made  them 
aware  that  "meetin'  "  was  goin'  on. 

"  Here  we  are  at  last.  There  is  the  spring,  in  that 
clump  of  trees  to  the  right.  We  will  camp  here  in  this 
open  space,"  said  Professor  Layton,  with  a  long  drawn 
breath  of  relief.  All  gladly  got  out  of  the  carriages, 
relieved  at  having  arrived  without  accident,  after  the 
perils  of  darkness  and  of  the  rough  mountain  roads  which 
had  encompassed  them.  Having  completed  their  ar- 
rangements for  the  night,  and  had  supper,  the  party 
concluded  to  satisfy  their  curiosity  by  going  to  the 
church,  where  the  sounds  still  indicated  that  the  meeting 
was  progressing. 

There  was,  to  Colonel  Massey,  a  sort  of  Arcadian  sat- 
isfaction, in  strolling  on  under  the  arches  of  the  pines, 
lit  up  by  their  camp  fires,  in  this  wild  wood,  toward  the 
church,  with  Aliena  leaning  upon  his  arm. 

The  excitement  had  about  reached  its  culmination, 
when  they  arrived  at  the  dimly -lighted,  rough,  unhewn, 
log  building,  which  served  as  a  church.  As  they  en- 
tered, facing  the  high  plank  pulpit,  that  stood  upon  a 
small  platform,  the  preacher,  a  tall,  gaunt,  big-boned, 
sallow-faced  man  of  about  forty-five  or  fifty,  was  in  the 
height  of  his  excited  oratory.  His  keen,  deep-set  eyes, 
under  heavy,  over-hanging  eye-brows,  with  his  long, 
rusty,  unkempt,  thick  beard,  and -shaggy  hair,  gave  him 
the  appearance  of  some  wild  animal ;  his  baggy  suit  of 
rough,  brown  homespun  added  to  this  effect. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  329 

Before  him,  seated  upon  the  sawn  log  benches,  was  a 
motley  crowd  of  men,  women  and  children,  in  the  same 
tawny  homespun,  which  seemed  to  accord  with  their 
hair,  eyes  and  complexion. 

The  preacher  was  declaiming  wildly,  his  long  hair 
flying  like  a  mane  about  his  eyes,  as  he  shook  his  head, 
and  stamped  his  feet,  and  pounded  with  his  great  sledge 
hammer-fists,  upon  the  frail  pulpit,  with  thunderous 
effect,  while  he  pictured  the  horrors  of  hell. 

He  closed  his  discourse  with  an  appeal  to  "  mourners," 
to  come  forward  to  the  altar,  for  the  prayers  of  the  con- 
gregation. Having  finished  this  exhortation,  ^he  began 
in  a  stentorian  voice  to  sing  a  dismal  hymn,  full  of 
threatenings  of  damnation.  He  walked,  as  he  sang,  from 
the  pulpit  to  the  open  space  between  it  and  the  benches  ; 
the  congregation  joining  in  the  singing  with  startling 
effect. 

Simultaneously,  as  it  seemed,  numbers  of  men, 
w^omen  and  cliildren  rose,  and  as  though  under  some 
strange  spell,  rushed  forward,  and  threw  themselves 
upon  their  knees  ;  or  groveled  in  the  straw,  strewn  for 
that  purpose  around  the  altar.  The  minister  continued 
at  intervals  to  exhort  sinners  to  come  to  the  altar  for 
the  prayers  of  the  congregation,  before  it  should  be  for- 
ever too  late ;  in  tones  to  be  heard  above  the  mingled 
sounds  of  singing,  sobbing,  and  groaning — the  number 
of  "  mourners "  constantly  increasing  as  the  singing 
went  on.  At  a  signal  from  the  preacher,  all  sank  upon 
their  knees,  in  every  variety  of  posture,  from  grovel- 
ing in  the  dust,  to  the  most  erect  position.  He  now  be- 
gan, apparently,  literally  to  wrestle  in  prayer.  His 
voice  indicating  as  Elijah  tauntingly  said  to  the  proph- 
ets of  Baal,  as  to  their  god,  "  He  is  afar  off,  or  perad- 
venture  he  sleepeth  and  must  be  awakened." 

The  dim  light  of  the  tallow  candles  added  to  the  weird 
effect  of  the  scene,  as  the  seething  mass  of  '^  mourners  " 
writhed,  groaned,  shrieked  and  squirmed,  upon  the  straw. 
While  the  "  brethren  "  and  *'  sisters  "  surrounding  them, 


330  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

assisted  by  exhortations,  groans  and  eja dilatory  prayer  in 
"  bringing  the  mourners  through,"  as  they  call  it.  The 
main  perlorniance  of  pra3'er,  by  the  minister,  going  on 
all  the  while  in  a  wild  sort  of  cadence,  was  to  be  heard 
above  all  other  sounds.  The  preacher,  wiping  the  per- 
spiration from  his  streaming  face  with  a  large,  big-flow- 
ered cotton  handkerchief,  fairly  succumbed  at  length  to 
the  powerful  physical  as  w^ell  as  mental  strain,  which 
this  effort  had  caused  him.  Cold  chills  of  horror  were 
creeping  over  Aliena,  at  this  w^eird  performance,  in  the 
dim  light,  with  the  sobs,  groans  and  shrieks  of  the 
mourners,  going  on  all  around  her  as  an  accompaniment 
to  the  prayer. 

This  was  followed  by  a  wild,  wailing  hymn,  to  each 
verse  of  which  a  refrain  was  added,  in  which  the  sound 
was  swelled  and  the  w*ords  dwelt  upon  indefinitely,  re- 
gardless of  measure. 

"  Oh  !  there  shall  be  wa-a-il-ing 
Wa-a-il  in<? — wa-a-il  iuj^ 
Oh !  there  sliall  be  wa-a-il  ing 
At  the  juJgineut  seat  of  God." 

After  which  followed  a  song  of  exultation,  which,  react- 
ing upon  the  excited  throng,  many  began  to  clap  their 
hands  and  to  jump,  shouting  "glory,"  ''hallelujah,"  or  to 
utter  ear-piercing  shrieks,  while  the  wails  of  the  mourners, 
as  of  the  lost,  mingled  in  the  unearthly  performance. 

"  I  can  "t  endure  this  any  longer,  take  me  away  from 
here,"  said  Aliena  to  Colonel  Massey,  in  a  strange  un- 
natural voice ;  and  rising  she  put  her  cold,  shivering  hand 
upon  his  arm,  and  they  moved  from  the  church.  "  It 
is  well  we  got  away,  or  I  am  afraid  you  would  have 
been  among  the  mourners,"  said  Colonel  Massey,  feel- 
ing her  hand  trembling  upon  his  arm. 

"  Oh  !  how  can  you  jest  about  it  ?  It  is  fearful,  dread- 
ful. It  seemed  to  me  like  the  wailings  of  the  lost," 
said  Aliena  still  shivering. 

"  I  am  sorry  I  induced  you  to  come  since  it  affects 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  331 

you  so  painfully,  I  had  no  idea  you  would  be  so  wrought 
upon,"  he  added  penitently. 

Aliena  had  been  even  more  wrought  upon  Ijy  the  ex- 
citement at  the  church  than  she  was  conscious  of  at  the 
time.  When  all  were  sleeping  in  their  tents  that  night, 
she  lay  looking  up  at  the  stars,  with  wide  open  staring 
eyes  ;  still  possessed  with  the  horror  of  the  scene.  The 
fearful  groans,  sobs  and  shrieks  seemed  still  sounding 
in  her  ears. 

With  it  came  a  shuddering  morbid  horror  of  the  hell 
depicted,  less  for  herself  than  for  others.  Her  mind  re- 
verted to  that  outcast  upon  the  earth,  against  whom 
blood  cried  from  the  ground.  The  dread  secret  weighed 
upon  and  stifled  her.  She  thought  of  tlie  immolation 
of  self  she  had  contemplated  making  for  one  so  unwor- 
th}^  Of  the  infinite  tenderness  she  had  rejected  which 
might  now  have  been  hers.  Of  her  cruel  distrust — of 
the  crucifixion  of  her  love. 

But  above  all,  she  thought  of  the  pain  inflicted,  the 
wrong  she  had  done,  in  her  want  of  faith  in  Dr.  Leigh. 
Her  heart  was  wrung  with  remorse.  The  dreaiiness 
and  desolation  of  her  life  seemed  crushing  her.  His 
words  came  to  her  mind.  "Will  cannot  always  prevent 
emotion  from  beating  its  breast  against  tlie  bars  that 
cage  it,  or  keep  those  bars  from  wounding  sorely." 
•She  realized  the  bitter  truthfulness  of  these  words  now. 
And  she  longed.  Oh  !  how  truly,  as  she  had  done  all  this 
weary  time,  to  see  him,  to  lie  at  his  feet,  to  beg  his  for- 
giveness, to  be  taken  once  more  to  his  heart,  unworthy 
of  his  love  as  she  felt  that  her  distrust  had  made  her. 

She  prayed  to  God  fervently,  as  she  had  never  ceased 
to  do,  for  his  happiness,  for  those  who  had  sinned  agiiinst 
him,  for  that  outcast  upon  the  earth,  for  whom  she  had 
sacrificed  so  much,  and  for  herself  that  she  might  be  en- 
abled to  endure  the  desolation  she  had  brought  upon 
herself. 

"  How  long?  Oh  !  Lord,  how  long  ?  "  sliie  groaned  in 
spirit.     The  stars  looked  down  pityingly  upon  her  from 


332  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

above.     The  long,  dark  lashes  rested  at  length  upon  the 
white,  tear-moistened  cheeks. 

And  peaceful  dreams,  ''as  it  were  angels  ascending 
and  descending,"  came  to  comfort  her. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

"  Thus  in  a  cloud  of  flowers 
Angelic  rose  a  virgin  to  my  view, 
And  o'er  my  spirit  that  so  loug  a  time 
Had  from  her  presence  felt  no  shuddering  dread, 
Albeit  mine  eye  discerned  her  not,  there  moved 
A  hidden  virtue  from  her,  at  whose  touch 
The  power  of  olden  love  was  strong  within  me." 

Dante  :  Divina  Commedia. 

The  travelers,  having  reached  the  point  nearest  to 
Toccoa,  possible  for  conveyances,  left  their  carriages, 
intending  to  walk  the  short  distance  to  the  fall. 

The  path,  which  had  once  been  a  road,  was  either 
overgrown,  or  so  obstructed  by  fallen  trees  that  they 
made  their  way  with  difficulty  through  tangled  vines  and 
undergrowth;  under  over-arching  cedars,  hemlocks  and 
pines ;  or  turning  aside,  climbed  over  fallen  trees  or  moss 
covered  rocks,  as  they  constantly  descended  into  the 
valley.  They  were  guided,  at  times,  only  by  the  sound 
of  the  falling  water,  which  grew  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
more  distinct,  until  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  they 
came  into  view  of  the  lovely  valley.  And  the  exqui- 
site waterfall  burst  upon  their  sight. 

There  before  them  was  Toccoa,  leaping  from  the  sheer 
precipice  of  white  rock,  more  than  three  hundred  feet 
above  them,  breaking  into  glittering,  silvery  spray 
before  it  reached  the  wide,  rocky  basin,  into  which  it 
fell,  rippling,  dancing,  and  foaming  on  in  rapids,  through 
the  beautiful  valley,  to  their  feet. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  333 

The  warm  June  air,  heavy  with  the  spicy  odor  of 
pines  and  the  fragrance  of  the  wild  flowers  abounding 
here,  was  freshened  by  the  falling  spray  into  a  delicious 
humid  coolness.  The  soft  air,  quickened  by  the  fall- 
ing water,  into  a  gentle  breeze,  dashed  aside  the  white 
spray;  or  carrying  it  off  in  dewy  showers,  sprinkled 
into  fresher  green  the  luxuriant  verdure  of  the  valley. 
Tall,  fringy  ferns,  mosses  and  lichens,  covered  with  the 
fine  mist,  sparkled  like  delicate  emerald  tracery  in  the 
shimmering  sunlight. 

Shut  in  by  the  towering,  rocky  precipices,  to  this 
beautiful  valley,  Aliena  felt  as  though  she  had  been 
transported  to  a  little  fairy  world.  She  did  not  wonder 
that  the  Indians  should  have  named  it  Toccoa,  the  beau- 
tiful. 

As  she  sat  silently  absorbed  in  the  view.  Colonel 
Massey,  who  was  b}^  her  side,  began  the  recitation  of  a 
local  poem,  descriptive  of  the  scene  : 

"  In  the  gray  shadows  of  a  mountain  wood 

There  flows  a  crystal  stream  scarce  known  to  song. 

That  to  its  own  sweet  music  glides  along, 

Charming  the  else  unbroken  solitude. 

Toccoa  called,  in  rhythmic  Indian  tongue. 

Nor  ever  yet  was  name  more  fitly  given ; 

No  lovelier  stream  was  e'er  by  poet  sung. 

Here  forest  boughs  above  it  interweave, 

And  through  the  leafy  net-work  sunbeams  stray, 

That  dancing,  rippling,  o'er  the  water  play 
■  Like  golden  threads  that  glancing  shuttles  leave, 

While  on  its  marge  the  scented  wild  flower  blows ; 

And  bright  and  beautiful  the  streamlet  goes." 

To  Aliena's  mind,  the  words  recited  fell  far  short  of 
painting  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  scene,  bv  which  she 
was  surrounded.  She  felt  out  of  unison  with  Colonel 
Massey,  and  his  somewhat  dramatic  style  jarred  pain- 
fully upon  her.  She  experienced  a  sense  of  relief  in  no 
longer  hearing  his  voice.  And  sitting  silent,  she  felt 
even  more  out  of  harmony  with  him  than  she  had  done 
before. 

"I  fear  you  are  disappointed  in  Toccoa?"  said  Col- 


334  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

onel  Massej,  at  length,  looking  at  the  sad,  introspective 
face  beside  him. 

Aliena  sighed  involuntarily  as  she  replied,  "  I  am 
disappointed,  but  not  in  Toccoa.  It  is  far  more  beauti- 
ful than  I  could  have  thought,  or  imagined." 

"  In  what  can  you  be  disappointed  then  ?  " 

"  Only  as  I  seem  doomed  to  disappointment  in  every- 
thing in  life.  In  its  not  bringing  the  happiness  ex- 
pected. I  had  hoped  that  the  sense  of  the  beautiful  in 
nature  might  be  the  one  exception,"  said  Aliena,  gaz- 
ing before  her,  at  the  fall,  Avith  a  look  of  fixed,  profound- 
est  sadness. 

'*  There  may  be  an  exception  yet  in  which  you  may 
find  the  happiness  you  seek,"  said  Colonel  Massey  with 
hesitation  and  some  embarrassment,  looking  anxiously 
into  Aliena's  face. 

Something  in  his  tone  made  Aliena  glance  around — 
and  catching  his  expression  it  seemed  to  act  as  a  repel- 
lant  upon  her.  She  said  abruptly,  ''I  no  longer  hope  to 
find  an  exception." 

"  Pres,  Pres,  do  come  here,  won't  you?  "  called  Helen 
Massey  from  some  invisible  point  near  ;  her  voice  indi- 
cating a  dilemma.  This  fortunately  broke  the  awkward 
silence  which  had  fallen  upon  Colonel  Massey.  Excus- 
ing himself,  he  moved  off  in  the  direction  indicated  by 
the  voice,  leaving  Aliena  seated  upon  the  rock  with  an 
intense  sense  of  relief  at  being  left  alone. 

Her  sadness  deepened,  however,  as  she  gave  herself 
up  to  thought.  To  the  dull,  fixed,  hopeless  pain  which 
the  contemplation  of  the  scene  seemed  to  increase. 

The  Dead  Pan  of  Mrs.  Browning  came  to  her  mind. 
"  Pan  is  dead,"  she  said  to  herself  mournfully.  The 
sighing  breeze  seemed  to  echo  the  words,  "Pan  is 
dead."  Nature  no  longer  seemed  instinct  with  pulsa- 
ting life  and  poetry  to  her.  No  nriads  disi)orted  in  foun- 
tains, no  dryads  sighed,  wept,  or  loved  in  trees,  no 
oreads  flitted  through  mountain  and  grotto.  "  Pan  is 
dead,"  her  heart  re-echoed. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  335 

Her  mind  wandered  with  dull,  aching  jjain  to  a  time 
when  life  as  well  as  nature  seemed  redundant  in  poetry 
and  in  happiness.  It  was  all  gone  now.  Lookcnit 
mountain  came  to  memory  with  the  deep,  calm,  per- 
meating happiness  of  that  time.  The  perlect  repose  in 
the  companionship  and  sympathy  found  there,  which, 
like  the  prodigal,  she  had  cast  away  for  "  the  husks  the 
swine  did  eat." 

^  A  strange  feeling  of  rest  seemed  stealing  over  her 
tired  heart,  tranquilizing  it  to  peace.  The  tension  of 
her  clinging  hands  relaxed,  big  tears  rolled  from  under 
the  long  lashes,  and  dropped  upon  her  hands. 

"  God  is  good,"  she  said. 
^  "  In  what  is  God  so  good  ?  "  said  a  low  voice  at  her 
side.  It  scarcely  seemed  to  change  the  current  of  her 
thoughts.  Eaising  her  eyes  her  soul  seemed  to  leap 
into  them  through  her  tears,  as  she  answered  in  a  voice 
vibrant  with  joy  and  love,  ^'In  sending  you." 

"Aliena,  think  of  what  you  are  sa^-ing,"  said  Dr. 
Leigh  in  a  low  voice,  startling,  so  full  was  it  of  passion- 
ate earnestness. 

*'  I  have  thought.  Oh  I  so  long  I "  and  her  head 
rested  upon  his  breast,  as  he  clasped  her  close  to  his 
heart,  while  upon  her  quivering  lips  he  pressed  a  long, 
passionate  kiss. 

"God   is  good,  indeed!     Better  than  I  could  have 
hoped  or  imagined,"  said  Dr.  Leigh. 
"  Pan  is  not  dead,"  said  Aliena. 

"  No,  nothing  is  dead.  Everything  is  instinct  with 
life,  and  love,  and  hope,  and  happiness,"  said  Dr.  Leigh. 
Aliena's  full  heart,  throbbing  with  happiness,  pulsat- 
ing musically,  re-echoed,  "Pan  is  not  dead."  The  leap- 
ing water,  sparkling  in  rainbow  tints  of  hope,  danced 
and  laughed— the  falling  Avater  had  no  minor  chords 
now,  it  sang  gayly,  '^Pan  is  not  dead."  All  nature 
seemed  to  take  up  the  chorus,  "  Pan  is  not  dead." 

The  soft  air  was  fragrant  with  wild  flowers,  and  with 
the  pines.     The  great  rock,  over  which  the  water  fell, 


336  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

loomed  white  above  them.  The  moon  rising,  the  white 
moonlight  gave  a  look  of  exquisite  spiritelle  beauty  to 
the  scene,  which  seemed  unreal. 

The  soft  breeze  swaying  aside  the  clouds  of  fleecy 
white  mist,  into  which  the  falling  water  broke,  carried 
off  portions,  that,  flying  softly  into  the  shadows,  ap- 
peared and  disappeared  with  the  rifts  of  moonlight,  like 
angelic  forms  moving  and  floating  in  the  air. 

The  myriad  tones  of  rippling,  gurgling,  falling  water, 
mingling  with  the  sound  of  the  air  stirring  the  pines, 
seemed  to  be  the  music  of  angelic  harps,  to  which  the 
spirit  forms  were  movilig. 

"  It  almost  makes  me  tremble  to  be  so  happy,"  said 
Dr.  Leigh  in  a  low  voice,  gazing  into  Aliena's  upturned 
eyes,  as  he  spoke.  "  It  seems  unnatural  in  its  intensity. 
I  can  scarcely  realize  that  it  is  not  an  ecstatic  vision, 
from  which  I  may  awake  to  see  you  dissolve  away  be- 
fore my  eyes,  like  those  etherial  forms  floating  out  of 
the  mist ;  to  leave  nothing  but  shadow  and  darkness 
behind." 

The  look  of  perfect  trust,  love  and  happiness  in  the 
eyes  that  met  his,  answered  him  as  no  words  could  have 
done. 

When  they  had  returned  to  camp  and  separated  for 
the  night.  Dr.  Leigh  found  sleep  impossible,  so  filled 
was  he  with  the  thought,  "  My  beloved  is  mine.  O  my 
dove,  that  art  in  the  clefts  of  ^the  rock — let  me  see  thy 
countenance,  let  me  hear  thy  voice.  Thy  countenance 
is  comely.  Thou  art  all  fair  my  love,  behold  thou  art 
fair.  Thou  hast  dove's  eyes.  There  is  no  spot  in  thee. 
Stay  me  with  flagons,  comfort  me  with  apples ;  for  I  am 
sick  of  love.  Until  the  day  break  and  the  shadows  flee 
away,  I  will  get  me  to  the  mountain  of  myrrh,  and  to 
the  hill  of  frankincense." 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  337 


CHAPTER  LX. 

"  So  high  as  heaven  the  turried  hills,  so  low 
Down  ^sunk  a  hollow  bottom,  broad  and  deep,  ' 

Capacious  bed  of  waters;  thither  they  hasted  i 

With  glad  precipitance."  \ 

Milton  :  Paradise  Lost. 

The  travelers  having  the  next  day  reached  Tallula, 
where  they  camped  for  the  night,  were  awakened  the 
following  morning  at  gray  dawn,  b}^  the  yelping  of  a 
hound,  which  proved  to  be  the  property  of  their  guide. 
The  party,  eager  for  a  view  of  the  falls  by  sunrise,  soon 
gathered  around  the  tall,  gaunt,  loose-jointed,  smoke- 
dried  looking  man  of  about  fifty,  dressed  in  the  usual 
walnut-dyed  brown  homespun.  His  slouched  hat  re- 
mained undisturbed  over  his  long,  straggling  hair,  as  he 
stood  leaning  loungingly  upon  his  long  rifle  ;  his  gaunt, 
starved-looking  yellow  hound  lying  at  his  feet. 

After  a  tedious,  winding,  precarious  descent — climb- 
ing down  rocks,  creeping  through  crevices,  or  leaping 
down  precipitous  places,  they  came  into  the  grand  gorge 
through  which  Talluia,  The  Terrible,  pours  its  torrents. 

Here  rugged  granite  walls,  towering  in  wild  grandeur, 
a  thousand  feet  above  the  chasm,  hold  the  river  in  its 
onward  course,  as  leaping,  surging  and  writhing,  it 
makes  the  three  great  falls,  Terrora,  Tempesta,  and 
Oceana. 

Moving  out  upon  the  rock  over  which  the  torrent 
pours,  which  shook  and  trembled  with  the  shock  of  the 
falling  water,  Aliena,  with  Dr.  Leigh,  looked  up  Uir 
above  them  to  Terrora.  There  leaping  with  awful, 
thunderous  roar,  it  lashes  itself  to  fury  against  the 
rocky  barriers.  Then  gathering  strength,  Tem|,>esta 
vaults  over  the  wild  ledge ;  and  Oceana,  surging,  foam- 
ing and  raging,  again  leaps — making  the  earth  quake 
and  tremble  in  the  triple  fall. 

Here  they  lingered  in  silent,  intensest  sympathy,  filled 

22 


338  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  V. 

with  the  sense  of  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  God, 
visible  in  the  grandeur  of  his  works.  Watching  the 
gloriously  changing  hues  of  the  sunri.se  upon  tlie  float- 
ing clouds,  the  mist  and  the  water — the  granite  walls 
— the  dark  green  pines,  hemlocks  and  laurels,  with  the 
more  delicate  hues  of  foliage. 

In  the  afternoon  the  party  started  for  another  more 
distant  view  of  the  falls  from  Devil's  Pulpit.  This 
rock,  sundered  apparently  by  some  convulsion  of  nature 
from  the  grand  ledge  through  which  Tallula  rushes,  is 
upon  a  level  with  its  highest  point.  Facing  the  falls, 
isolated  above  the  vast  chasm,  it  juts  out  a  sheer  preci- 
pice of  a  thousand  feet,  commanding  the  view  of  the 
gorge,  the  falls,  the  rapids  below,  and  of  the  river  ; 
which,  winding  in  and  out,  is  lost  to  view  at  last  in  the 
great  hemlocks  and  pines  in  the  valley  beyond. 

It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  party  to  go  from  the 
Devil's  Pulpit  on  to  the  rapids.  But  the  clouds  that 
had  been  flitting  across  the  sky,  adding  the  charm  of 
sunshine  and  shadow  to  the  view,  had  grown  rapidly 
dense.  And  the  opinion  was  divided  as  to  continuing 
their  walk. 

Most  of  the  party  decided  to  return  to  camp  ;  but 
Helen  Massey  and  Aliena  Graeme,  with  Captain  Bran- 
don and  Dr.  Leigh,  determined  to  go  on.  They  found 
the  path  to  the  rapids  rougher  and  more  devious  even 
than  they  had  expected.  But  they  moved  rapidly  and 
gayly  on  over  bowlders,  and  around  fallen  trees,  which 
the  flood,  to  which  mountain  torrents  are  constantly 
liable,  had  carried  with  them  to  the  valley. 

Having  reached  the  rapids  at  length,  they  followed 
the  winding  stream  in  delight  as  it  went  leaping,  boil- 
ing, and  surging  on,  in  miniature  likeness  to  the  grander 
falls  above.  Aliena  with  Dr.  Leigh,  watching  the  long 
moss  clinging  to  the  submerged  rocks  which  moved  and 
writhed  like  some  live  thing  with  the  onward  flow  of 
the  water ;  or  gathering  the  spray-splashed  flowers,  and 
delicate  ferns  that  were  bending  their  heads  to  the  cur- 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 


139 


rent   of  air   that  tlie    moving  water  kept   in    constant 
motion,  became  separated  from  the  other  couple. 

The  changing,  shifting  light  ceased  to  play  at  length 
upon  the  water.  The  sky  was  becoming  leaden.  The 
mutterings  of  thunder  loud  enough  to  be  heard  above 
the  roar  of  the  water,  at  length^  warned  Dr.  Leigh  of 
the  necessity  for  returning. 

Jn  their  own  ha^jpiness  they  had  been  oblivicus  to 
their  having  become  separated  from  Helen  and  Captain 
Brandon.  Now,  looking  around  to  recall  them  from 
their  wandering,  they  found  that  the  others  weie  no 
where  in  view.  They  walked  on  rapidly  for  some  n.in- 
utes,  hoping  to  overtake  them;  the  thunder  growing 
louder,  and  the  intervals  less  and  less.  The  clouds  had 
become  dense  and  black,  and  big  drops  of  rain  began  to 
descend. 

They  stopped  for  the  time  under  a  giant  hemlock,  and 
the  ram  intermitting,  Dr.  Leigh,  leaving  Aliena,  climbed 
to  the  top  of  a  great  bowlder  and  looked  around.  But  no 
glimpse  of  the  wanderers  could  be  seen.  He  returned 
quickly  to  where  Aliena  aw^aited  him,  and  thev  concluded 
that  it  would  be  useless  to  continue  their  search,  or  to 
attempt  to  return  now.  The  only  course  left  was  to 
find  shelter  for  the  time  under  the  shelving  rock. 

The  wind  was  increasing  fearfully.  They  could  hear 
it  now  above  all  other  voices  of  nature,  as  it  roared  in 
its  onward  course,  coming  crashing  through  the  pines 
and  hemlocks  upon  the  ledge  of  rock,  a  thousand  feet 
above  their  heads,  tossing  and  twisting  them  wildly,  as 
it  moved  on  its  way.  They  hurried  on  over  the  rough 
path-way,  climbing  bowlders,  and  moving  around  the 
debris  abounding  here.  Dr.  Leigh,  putting  his  arm 
around  Aliena,  almost  carried  her  as  they  sped  on  be- 
fore the  wind,  hearing  it  coming  nearer  and  nearer, 
shrieking  on  down  the  gorge,  twisting  off  branches  from 
the  hemlocks  and  pines  on  the  ledge  above  them,  the 
thunder  rolling  and  crashing,  and  the  lightning  leaping 
and  flashing  overhead. 


340  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y. 

They  reached  the  rock  at  length,  in  safety.  Under 
its  shelving  shelter,  protected  from  the  wind  and  the 
rain  that  began  to  ponr  in  blinding  sheets,  there  was  an 
intense  sense  of  enjoyment  to  both,  as  seated  here  they 
watched  the  wild  grandeur  of  the  storm  ;  and  saw  the 
might  of  Him  Avho  ''  hurls  the  lightnings  as  a  lance, 
and  holds  the  winds  in  his  fist." 

The  storm  continued,  crash  after  crash  of  near  thunder 
and  blinding  lightning,  the  falling  trees  from  the  ledge 
far  above  them,  or  away  up  the  gorge,  crashing,  rolling, 
and  rumbling  on  down  into  the  valley, the  wind  driving 
the  rain  before  it  in  great  white  sheets,  that  broke  into 
fine  mist  upon  the  rocks. 

Tallula,  swollen  by  the  rain,  into  renewed  and  terri- 
ble force,  carried  with  its  roaring  water  the  debris  and 
bowlders,  loosened  in  its  onward  course.  These  rum- 
bled and  crashed  on  through  Terrora,  Tempesta,  and 
Oceana  ;  finding  a  lodgment  in  the  valley,  or  bound- 
ing and  bowling  on  with  the  rapids  farther  down  the 
stream. 

The  wild  passion  of  nature  having  vented  itself  in 
blinding  lightning  and  shrieking  wind,  and  sobbed  itself 
to-  quiet,  in  falling  tears,  now  as  though  penitent,  sighed 
and  soughed  around  them. 

This  lulling  the  sun  burst  out  once  more,  disclosing 
battalions  of  hery,  flying  dragons,  in  the  heavens,  which, 
as  though  the  spirits  of  the  storm,  Avere  scurrying  be- 
fore the  receding  wind,  leaving  white  winged  messen- 
gers of  peace  behind. 

^As  Dr.  Leigh  and  Aliena  sat  there  in  glad  silence, 
looking  up  at  the  clouds,  these  seemed  to  dissolve  into 
wonderful  gleaming  cities,  gorgeous  in  temples,  mina- 
rets, and  mosques ;  while  the  dripping,  glistening  earth 
as  though  not  to  be  outdone  by  sunlight  and  cloud 
smiled  in  renewed  beauty  and  freshness,  "  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband." 

Though  the  storm  had  ceased,  the  water  pouring  down 
the  valley  made  it  impossible  for  them  yet  to  retrace 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  341 

their  steps.  And  looking  at  the  gorgeous  heaven  above 
them,  and  at  the  glad  earth  around  them  neither  seemed 
inclined  to  return. 

As  Aliena  met  Dr.  Leigh's  eyes  gazing  with  infinite 
love  and  trust  into  her  tender,  fathomless  e3'es,  she 
said  penitently,  "And  you  have  never  asked  me  yet 
about  the  cruel  past  ?  " 

"  Since  I  found  you  at  Toccoa,  I  have  had  no  room 
in  my  heart  for  anything  but  the  blissful  present,"  he 
replied. 

•"  But  those  wear}^  years  of  wretchedness  and  pain  to 
both?  Do  you  think  I  could  willingly  have  intiicted 
them  ■?  "  she  asked. 

"  That  you  could  not  love  me  then,  is  forgotten  in 
the  happiness  of  knowing  that  you  do  love  me  now.  It 
seems  such  an  eternity  of  bliss  since  then,  that  I  can 
scarcely  remember  there  ever  w^as  a  cruel  past." 

'>  But  all  that  dreary  time,  I  did  love  you.  God 
knows  how  truly,  and  how  cruelly  I  have  suffered," 
Aliena  said  penitently,  glancing  up. 

''And  yet  you  inhicted  all  this  pain?"  he  said  ten- 
derly. 

"  Yes,"  said  Aliena,  looking  appealingly  into  his  face. 
"  I  loved  you  all  that  weary  time.  I  have  never  ceased 
to  love  you  since,  on  Lookout,  I  first  believed  you  loved 
me.  And  in  rejecting  your  love,  I  did  violence  to  every 
emotion  of  my  being.  You  could  not  have  suffered 
more  than  I  have  done,  or  than  I  still  suffer,  when  I  think 
of  the  pain  I  inflicted,  of  the  cruel  w^rong  I  did  to  you." 

And  Aliena  went  on  to  tell  him  all  the  sad  story. 
Of  her  sorrow  in  her  father's  death,  her  isolated  life, 
her  imagined  love  for  Major  Baron,  and  of  their  engage- 
ment. Of  her  love  for  himself,  of  the  pain  endiued  in 
repelling  his  love  upon  Lookout  mountain,  and  in  Chat- 
tanooga, as  treachery  to  one  to  whom  she  was  plighted, 
shut  up  as  he  was  to  daily  peril  of  his  life  in  her  defense 
in  Vicksburg.  Of  Mrs.  Bledsoe's  Avicked  story,  of  his 
unspoken  love,  of  her  hopelessness  for  the  future  in  her 


342  THE  FEET  OF  CLA  T. 

cruel  distrust  of  mankind.  Of  her  crucifixion  of  self 
in  renewing  her  engagement  with  Major  Baron  in 
Athens.  Of  her  suspicions  as  to  Zara,  grown  out  of 
her  father's  haunting  presence,  of  the  meeting  Major 
Baron  with  Zara  in  the  cemeter>^  his  words  there  over- 
heard, the  shriek  she  had  heard  in  the  same  place. 

Of  the  longing  she  had  felt  to  cast  herself  upon  Dr. 
Leigh's  love  that  evening  when,  during  the  storm,  he 
had  come  to  her  protection,  of  the  agony  she  might 
have  saved  them  both  if  then  she  could  have  told  her 
love. 

Of  her  visit  to  Zara  in  prison,  her  knowledge  of 
Major  Baron's  guilt,  her  loathing  of  him,  the  cruel  bur- 
den of  this  secret,  of  Major  Baron's  passionate  plead- 
ing, of  her  temptation  then,  in  her  shaken  faith  in  hu- 
manity, to  immolate  herself  to  save  this  wicked  man,  as 
he  had  plead. 

Of  her  agony  when  she  had  met  Dr.  Leigh  that 
night  in  the  Campus,  and  when  she  had  torn  herself 
from  him  in  the  library.  Of  his  noble  vindication  by 
Colonel  Harvey,  the  evening  he  had  left  her  without  a 
farewell  word.  Of  the  wearing,  weary  pain  she  had  en- 
dured since  then.  Of  how  she  had  longed  to  see  him 
to  beg  forgiveness  for  the  cruel  wrong  she  had  done,  to 
tell  him  of  her  love,  to  fall  at  his  feet  and  beg  forgive-- 
ness. 

"And  you  suffered  the  word  of  a  wicked  woman  to 
part  us  all  this  weary  time  ?  And  you  could  believe 
that  story  ?  "  said  Dr.  Leigh,  looking  at  her  sorrowfully 
yet  tenderly. 

"  Don't  reproach  me,"  said  Aliena  entreatingly,  rais- 
ing her  beautiful  eyes  to  his,  her  voice  trembling  with 
emotion.  "  But  without  perfect  trust  I  could  not  ac- 
cept yoLi  as  my  heart's  lord,  to  be  held,  next  to  God, 
in  highest  reverence  and  love.  But  think  of  what  I 
have  suffered,  and  as  God  knows  my  heart,  the  keenest 
pang  has  been  in  thought  of  what  you  endured." 

"  So  it  had  to  be,  it  seems,  my  precious  one,"  said  Dr. 


THE  FEET  OF  CLA  Y.  343 

Leigh  with  infinite  tenderness.  "And  much  as  I  loved 
you,  longed  for  you,  to  carry  you  in  my  bosom,  as  I  did 
the  time  when  I  first  knew  1  loved  you,  to  have  you  at 
my  side,  part  of  my  very  being  as  truly  as  was  Eve  of 
Adam,  for  whom  my  heart  cried  out  when  we  were  sep- 
arated, as  for  my  very  self,  my  better,  purer  self,  to 
whom  in  thought,  heart  and  deed  I  could  not  but  be 
forever  true,  yet  I  Avould  not  have  you  here  now,  sweet 
as  it  is,  unless  willingly,  truly,  lovingly.  Time  has  had 
its  bent.  We  have  been  tried,  as  it  were,  by  lire.  My 
sweet,  wild  bird  has  come  to  nestle  at  my  heart.  We 
know  the  ecstacy  of  that  love  which  is  God-ordained, 
Avhich  is  soon  to  make  us  one,"  and  pressing  her  to  his 
heart,  he  imprinted  a  long  kiss  upon  her  trembling  lips. 
And  rising  they  retraced  their  steps  toward  camp,  and 
the  home  to  which  they  were  now  to  return — to  which 
Dr.  Leigh  was  soon  to  take  Aliena  as  his  bride. 

"  Which  whoso  list  look  back  to  former  ages 
And  call  to  count  the  things  that  then  were  doune 
Shall  find  that  all  the  works  of  those  wild  sages. 

And  brane  exploits  which  great  heroes  wouue, 

In  love  were  either  ended  or  begunne." 


'", ^'''  ■',"  y' •'*>.*■'' 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Wilmer 
767 


